Collective Bargaining Agreement News & Rumors

Wednesday night brought the most substantial development in months on the CBA front. The NFL’s six-team playoff structure — used since 1990 — will shift to a 14-team format, should a new CBA be finalized. Here is the latest on that process, which is gaining traction in advance of a critical stretch.

• This is not yet a done deal. NFLPA reps will participate in a key conference call Friday, and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com notes there is a fairly sizable faction that remains committed to voting no on the owners’ latest proposal (video link) because of the increase to a 17-game season and its impact on future generations of players. Only 11 of the 32 player reps must vote no to prevent the proposal from reaching the next stage.
• The projected $200MM salary cap for 2020 will likely remain, but Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets the new CBA will begin to generate bigger cap spikes in 2021.
• Negotiations have created a gray area that could affect teams with multiple high-end free agents — like the Cowboys or Titans. A new CBA being agreed to by March 18 will prevent teams from using both their franchise and transition tags — which they are permitted to do in the final year of a CBA. But with the window for tags to be applied closing March 10, teams would seemingly have the opportunity to use both tags before a new CBA is agreed upon. However, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links) teams would be prevented from using both tags this year if a deal is agreed to by March 18. This would create a strange setup where teams retroactively lose the option to use both tags, but it sounds like certain players’ free agency statuses — like Amari Cooper and Derrick Henry — will hinge on a CBA being finalized by March 18.
• Training camps will include less hitting under the owners’ latest proposal. As part of the many concessions the owners are making in hopes of enticing the players to agree to 17 games, there will be a five-day period to start training camp where no contact is permitted, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). There will also be limitations on how much hitting teams can have on consecutive camp days, per Rapoport. The 2011 CBA ended two-a-day practices; this one will move the needle further in a safety-based direction.
• The latest proposal will push the players’ side of the revenue split from 47% to 48%, with the 48% share being the minimum for each year the 16-game format remains in place, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Once the schedule moves to 17 games — at a point from 2021-23 — the players’ share spikes to 48.5%. This will mean roughly $5 billion more going to the workforce.

The regular season isn’t the only part of the schedule that could be expanded. In the latest collective bargaining agreement proposal, the league would see the postseason balloon to seven teams per conference with only the top seed receiving a first-round bye, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The change would go into effect immediately, meaning that we’d see two extra playoff teams beginning in 2020.

Schefter adds that the current CBA proposal also includes an increase to 17 regular season games, which has been a long-debated topic between the two sides (and among pundits). Predictably, the preseason would be shortened to three games.

On Thursday, NFL owners and execs will huddle up in New York to consider terms requested by the players, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The NFLPA, meanwhile, will discuss things via conference call on Friday. Jason La Canfora tweets that a vote isn’t expected at the owners meeting, while Ralph Vacchiano of SNY notes that the decision could come down to the wire (which would be March 18th). At the very least, this is an indication that CBA talks are progressing and there’s reason to believe that the two sides will avoid a work stoppage with a new deal.

Still, many issues remain unresolved. At last check, the two sides were still haggling over the funding rule, which puts a player’s guaranteed money into escrow. Originally designed to protect players, its become an oft-cited reason for teams avoiding lots of guaranteed money in future seasons.

The players want the funding rule scrapped and NFL owners are aiming to keep it. A compromise could be on the horizon, however – the league has offered to give teams a $10MM credit against the requirement, Mike Florio of PFT hears. The $10MM amount isn’t much, but as Florio notes, it could be a workable solution if the league is willing to push that figure higher.

Further, La Canfora notes that the players would push for fewer training camp and regular season practices. If those conditions (along with a few others) are met, the NFLPA is confident that the players would approve the expanded playoff format.

The players may be willing to expand the regular season to 17 games, but they want to adjust the owners’ proposed window for activation, sources tell PFT’s Mike Florio. The NFL is seeking the option to implement the longer season sometime between 2021 and 2023. The players want to take 2021 off the table and push that off until 2022 or 2023.

This is, in part, due to logistical reasons. With many players contracted through 2021, and approximately 70 players under contract through 2023, those players would need to be given additional compensation on their existing deals in order to make something work. The later the start date, the easier it becomes to facilitate that.

Despite plenty of opposition to the longer season within the union, it seems as though the NFLPA is warming up to a compromise. And we’d speculate that the later start date would be more palatable to players for other reasons. For example, veterans who are in the final years of their career could be more open to the proposal if they are only facing one or two extended seasons.

We should know more about where the NFLPA stands after their meeting on Thursday, which could include a vote among union leadership. In exchange for the 17-game season, owners have reportedly some key concessions, including a revamp of the fifth-year option for first round picks, relaxed testing for marijuana, and a larger cut of league revenue.

On Thursday in Washington D.C., the NFLPA’s executive committee and player representatives may vote on a CBA proposal from the NFL’s owners, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the process will be further along by the end of next week, however.

Two key things to note: 1. The players will only consider a vote if the owners address a list of issues that they’ve submitted. 2. Even if the proposal is revised to satisfaction, this vote would only clear one hurdle on the way to a new CBA. If two-thirds of the player representatives say yes, it goes to the entire union body. If a simple majority vote in favor of it, it will go to the owners. In that final step, three-fourths of owners must say yes in order for the CBA to be ratified.

The current CBA doesn’t expire until March 2021, but the two sides want to hash out a new one by the start of the league year. This March will not mark a true deadline for talks, but without a fresh CBA, the possibility of a labor stoppage in 2021 increases.

The league’s owners want the ability to extend the regular season to 17 games. Many players are concerned about the safety issues that would arise from a longer season, but owners say they’re willing to give up a larger share of revenue if they receive and trigger that option. The union is also believed to be seeking relaxed rules against marijuana, something the owners seem willing to offer.

On Thursday, the NFLPA gathered in Los Angeles to discuss the owners’ latest proposal for the collective bargaining agreement. Although there is no true deadline for an agreement, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears that there is some sense of urgency within the union to work out an accord. It’s expected that more meetings between the two sides, or at least internally for the NFLPA, will be scheduled for next week.

Some player representatives continue to be staunchly opposed to an expanded 17-game season, which is the foremost issue in the talks. Owners are looking for the new CBA to give them the option to add an extra game between 2021 and 2023. The proposal would boost the players’ cut from 47% of league revenue to 48.5%, a number that would inch even higher if the option is triggered.

The union is looking for ways to make the expanded season “more palatable for players,” Graziano reports. The owners’ say they’ll eliminate one preseason game for every regular season game that’s added. Meanwhile, their proposal still calls for only one bye week. In theory, we’d speculate that a compromise could include the addition of a second bye week, to give players additional in-season rest.

Both sides are aiming to get a new deal done in time for the start of the 2020 league year on March 18, Graziano hears. If that happens, the fresh CBA would supersede the final year of the existing one and take both sides through 2029.