Honestly, Ivan does have a point.
Take this scenario: a top-flight player is injured, necessitating their replacement with a younger player that has been in the club's development pipeline for quite some time. The new kid shows he has the goods, but bringing him on sends the club over the salary cap. The kid in question has proven his ability and his contract is coming up for renewal, but the club they're with has the rep star to keep paying along with 23 others, making it very difficult-if not outright impossible- for them to compete. The only reason the kid got a walk-on role was through injury, and so they are no certainty to start in the future. So what do they do? Play for low pay and attempt to force their way into the top 17, or accept the offers made by other clubs?
In terms of both financial and career opportunities, it makes the most sense to accept a contract from another club. Garaunteed.
That's a pretty cruel blow; not only does a club lose an injured player for a period of time, but they also loose an up-and-comer.
The more likely scenario, however- and the one Henjak is more probably and quite correctly worried about- is the loss through injury of a star player and the difficulty retaining first graders the following season. With Hodges gone for over a month, some pressure is exerted on the salary cap. Whilst $5, 000 may sound trivial it could literally be the difference between an established player remaining with the club when their contract comes up or accepting a rival bid.
Finally, you've got the Scott Prince scenario. We all know he was, and is, a gun player- but he spent most of his time at the Broncos wearing plaster casts. With him gone, the club had to manufacture a replacement, which put pressure on the cap. And because he had been out for so long, he was unable to establish his case for a good contract, which in turn meant he really had to go elsewhere. Scott was unlucky, no question, but he will be far from the last in that situation, even if it takes a while to come up again.
Ivan is pretty clearly not looking for special dispensation to get cap relief for players who suffer a headache or get the sniffles. Hodges' injury is real and substial, and it will give players like McCullough, Glenn, and Yow Yeh more game time. I do not know what their contract availability is like, but it is obvious that the club is bringing them through gradually to replace more seasoned campaigners when they retire. The Broncos have already lost Taylor this season and are looking increasingly likely to loose Hunt and perhaps others. The last thing they need is to lose good young players they have invested so much in on top of that.
All clubs face this problem, the successful ones even more so.
Perhaps a solution could be found where each club recieves X amount of salary cap relief or rebates each season to cover the wages of players who are used as replacements for those injured severely- meaning, who are sidelined for four or more weeks consecutively.
