Uncategorized News & Rumors

The NFL’s been operating on the latest CBA since the 2011 season, one that saw its offseason condensed due to the lockout. The NFLPA discussed a radical option should another lockout ensue when the league and the union are involved in the next CBA negotiations, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report.

Cole reports (via Twitter) a few among NFLPA brass discussed for more than two years the prospect of staging an alternative league that would operate if the owners lock the players out again. Said league would be a way for players to compensate for potential missed game checks, a factor that played into the negotiations during the 2011 lockout, but Cole notes this endeavor would require a major financial commitment from an outside party to fund the effort.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk broached this subject this weekend, one that’s continued to see windfall sums go to NBA players. NBA salaries, which mostly come fully guaranteed, are usually a talking point for NFLers during the offseason. This week brought the likes of Otto Porter and Tim Hardaway Jr. cashing in as restricted free agents, with the Wizards matching a Nets four-year, $106.5MM offer sheet to Porter and the Hawks declining to match a Knicks four-year, $71MM sheet for Hardaway.

Porter’s $106MM is fully guaranteed. No NFL player guaranteed to make as much as a zero-time NBA All-Star — and a player who’s served as the No. 3 scoring option on his own team — would naturally create some questions. Hardaway’s contract ensures he will make more per year than any NFL wide receiver is currently scheduled to receive.

Noting players’ fear of losing out on game checks weakened the NFLPA’s position in the 2011 negotiations, Florio writes the union needs to be planning ahead to dig in on a longer work stoppage this time. The CBA expires after the 2020 season, and the PFT writer offers that the players need to publicly pursue TV deals and stadium agreements to strengthen their stance against the owners for a better agreement on the next CBA. Greater percentages of contracts being guaranteed figures to be a key point in the ensuing negotiations.

The NBA-vs.-NFL argument has to factor in roster sizes, making NBA players’ skills inherently more valuable. But the NFL does bring in billions more in revenue. Chris Baker of the Buccaneers, who signed for three years and $15.75MM, and former Redskins teammate Terrance Knighton are among the latest to discuss the disparity between the leagues’ contracts (Twitter link). Neither made the point NBAers should make less, only that the NFL should pay its players more.

There is some precedent for NFL players staging outside games. The NFLPA organized two all-star games during the 1982 strike, one that wiped out seven games of the NFL season, but fewer than 10,000 fans attended each.

The NFL and the NFLPA are more than halfway through the latest rendition of the collective bargaining agreement which was signed in 2013. It’s probably still early to sweat things, but union president Eric Winston tells PFT that there have been no talks yet between the two sides on an extension of the deal.

“We’re still trying to figure out how and when that’s going to happen,” Winston said.

So far, Winston says the two sides are “talking about talks” with “nothing substantive,” and that verbiage may indicate some frustration on the part of the NFLPA. Part of the holdup can be explained by the open-ended future of the league’s broadcasting agreements. The NFL’s current TV deals go through the 2022 season, after the CBA expires in 2021. Neither side knows how much money will be coming in on the next deal, making it hard to come to an agreement beforehand.

Recently, NFLPA spokesman George Atallah indicated that the union will talk directly to the TV networks about things may change for the 2023 season and beyond. That conversation could give the union some much-needed insight on what’s ahead and may even help to spur talks.

NFL owners have passed a resolution allowing two players to return off of the Injured Reserve list, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Previously, the league only allowed teams to activate one player from IR.

The Redskins have been pushing this change for years now and the league has finally come around to their proposal. The IR-DTR (Injured Reserve-Designated To Return) rule has gone through multiple changes over the years, giving team’s additional flexibility with each tweak. Initially, teams had to declare their one IR-DTR player in advance and could not move the tag to another player after that point. Then, teams were allowed to consider all IR players for return without calling it first, but the rule still limited teams to just one returning player. Now, two players may come back midseason if they are healthy enough to do so.

Other regulations pertaining to the IR-DTR rules are presumably still in place. As it stands, IR-DTR players may return to practice only after six weeks spent on IR and return to game action after eight weeks on IR.

In related news, the NFL has passed a rule change moving overtime from 15 minutes to 10 minutes, according to a league official who spoke with Rapoport (Twitter link).

Fans everywhere are rejoicing over the league’s Tuesday morning decision to allow players more leeway in their touchdown celebrations. Meanwhile, a vote that is garnering less attention on Twitter is cause for NFL coaches to celebrate. The league will be doing away with the 75-man cutdown, as Albert Breer of The MMQB tweets.

Previously, teams were mandated to trim their rosters from 90 to 75 in late August or early September. Days later, the final cut would be made from 75 to a 53-man roster. Now, there will be only one cut as teams go from 90 to 53.

This decision will give coaches additional time to evaluate players as they try to put together the best Week 1 roster. The vote probably also sits well with the NFLPA. For at least a few extra days, roughly 480 players that would have been released otherwise will be under NFL employment.

Prior to today’s ruling, teams would have had to get down to a 75-man roster by August 30. Now, teams only have to worry about the 53-man date on September 3.

At a league meeting next week, NFL owners will vote on proposal to allow for a second player to come off of the injured reserve during the season. That proposal is likely to be approved, Judy Battista of NFL.com tweets.

The league first introduced the “short-term” IR in 2012. That rule allowed for a team to designate one player for return after eight weeks had passed. Teams appreciated the flexibility, but once the IR-DTR designation was applied to one player, teams were not able to make a chance and instead use it on a different player. Later, the league modified the IR-DTR rules so that teams did not have to declare their returning player ahead of time, but they were still only allowed to activate one player.

Now, teams will be able to bring two players off of IR midseason, though they’ll presumably have to give the same advanced notice. The current IR-DTR rules stipulate that a player must stay out of practice for six weeks and cannot play for eight weeks before being brought back to the 53-man roster.