Berry Has to Go

Tennessee fans should soak in all of the Eric Berry that they can tonight, it will be their last opportunity. It pretty much became official the moment that Lane Kiffin gave his blessing for Berry to run through the “T” solo with the seniors before the final home game of the year. If there were even a chance that Berry was staying, Kiffin would have stayed uncharacteristically mum.

Don’t shoot the messenger Tennessee fan, but Berry has to leave. The NFL’s CBA is up this year, and there is a very good chance that there will be a rookie salary scale in place in the League after next season. Berry is projected by most analysts to go around 4^th in next April’s draft were he to declare. Given last season’s number 4 pick Aaron Curry’s 6 year $60 million deal, Berry could lose as much as $40 million on his first contract by waiting a year, assuming that a salary scale is all but a forgone conclusion.