While the NFL and the NFLPA met multiple times before the recent summit, the most recent meeting provided the clearest picture as to the status of the next collective bargaining agreement. This may not be progressing as both sides hope.
The session in Chicago represented the first time during this CBA negotiation cycle that the parties exchanged proposals, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. With the revenue split entering the equation, a 4 1/2-hour meeting led to the rest of that week’s powwows being nixed because the sides were too far apart. Monday’s follow-up meeting morphed from a key negotiating session to a meeting based around more peripheral matters. The revenue split subject was not on today’s agenda.
The league and the union are still slated to meet Tuesday, Breer adds, but it’s unclear if the big-picture subjects will be discussed. The parties’ next summit is scheduled for mid-August. League owners wanted more time to plan a new proposal, having seen the players’ for the first time, according to Breer. The players are also planning to amend their initial proposal.
While categorizing this round of talks as more productive than where the parties were at this point of the previous CBA cycle, Breer does not expect a new deal to be in place by the owners’ unofficial pre-Week 1 target date. The owners have backed off the goal of having the next collective bargaining agreement in place by then.
With the current CBA not set to expire until after next season, this process being completed in 2019 may be difficult. The union continues to prepare players for a possible 2021 work stoppage, sending out a “work stoppage worksheet” (Twitter link) themed around saving money in the event another lockout comes. Without a new deal in place, next offseason will include new contract and salary cap rules specific to the final year of the CBA, which means no June 1 release designations and the ability of teams to use both the franchise and transition tags to keep players off the free agent market.
‘The union continues to prepare players for a possible 2021 work stoppage, sending out a “work stoppage worksheet” (Twitter link) themed around saving money in the event another lockout comes.’
When you have to tell multimillionaires 2 years advance to prep for a potential work stoppage, then you know there won’t be one. They’ll cave.
You do realize not every player is a multimillionaire, right?
Most of the ones that are reps on the union are though
I do know that. But a healthy percent are & they are being told to be financially sound as well. AP is a poster for this. Blown throw nearly $100m from what I read last week.
It’s standard practice for every union to notify members in advance of negotiations that a strike is a possibility and that their income will be affected if that happens.
You’re right. I still don’t see a strike coming. Simply too much new money, gambling LA & Vegas stadiums, streaming; and old money for either side to miss playing time.
I generally don’t place much stock in any of these early CBA updates because both sides do a tremendous amount of posturing at the start of negotiations. I enjoyed a particularly good giggle when the owners side stated that a deal had to be reached quickly because fans didn’t want the process disrupting the NFLs 100th anniversary festivities. Even in Chicago, few fans care about that.
Maybe if the union fought for its younger and incoming members, then it would be stronger!
The union needs to fight harder for the following:
3 year max on RC contracts.
Elimination of franchise and transition tags.
Zero punishment for non football related issues.
Zero testing for non performance drugs.
All contracts fully guaranteed.
Not saying they would get all of this, but it should be the goal. And I definitely wouldn’t budge on the first 2, and maybe not the last either.
1) cut a year…make it 3 year with team 4th option…so less 1 year than current
2) lessen the amount a team has and player can only be tagged once….ever
3) disagree fully…but standardization is needed for punishment…committee of former players and coaches decides…goddell has zero say.
4) disagree ….but once again make weed non punishable…other drugs are punished
5) disagree…but more guaranteed money in them. Min amount…50% guaranteed or something.
What is the CBA?
Criminal Behavior Award for Chief players but Collective Bargaining Agreement for the rest of the league.
I’m sure you’ll be happy if all contracts are guaranteed when you’re team has no cash for FA’s because they’re still paying out a long term deal on a bust or injury.
Baseball has this and I’m watching the Detroit Tigers pay Miguel Cabrerra $30M/year as his production and health declines. Yes he was great, but sales of Miguel Triple Crown merch have fallen off.
I would rather see contracts get packed with performance incentives to pay a player for what they’re doing as opposed to paying a player after the fact for what they did. This is particularly dicey when they sign a FA deal and the new team pays for what the old team got.
That’s not a bad idea at all.
I just don’t like that teams can cut players whenever they want, yet the players are tied to the length of their contracts.
How about zero guarantees, but players can opt out of contracts at any time. With the penalty that they pay back a portion of any guaranteed money.