NFLPA's Smith Calls For Intense CBA Push If No Deal By January

Smith Wants New CBA By '10 Season

NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith called on the NFL to hold five days of meetings to hammer out a new CBA if a labor deal is not reached by mid-January in order to avoid the '10 NFL season operating without a salary cap. "If we don’t have a deal by mid-January, it seems to me the right thing to do at that point is to commit ourselves, both the union and the NFL, to five days of concentrated meetings where we promise ourselves that we will emerge with a deal," Smith said on a conference call with reporters yesterday. "I am against any lockout. I would love to have a deal before the uncapped year." NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello, in response to Smith's comments, said in an e-mail, "We will meet with the union as often as we can in order to get a deal." The NFL and NFLPA have held four collective bargaining sessions. If there is no deal reached by March, next season will operate with no salary cap and no ceiling or floor on what teams can spend on players. Smith said players are concerned about the potential impact of the '10 season on players, but also on the competitive balance of the league. "Our players are partners in the business of football," Smith said. "They are also concerned about it as it affects the overall competitive paradigm" (Liz Mullen, SportsBusiness Journal).

ADVANTAGE NFL? PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio wrote the NFLPA's position "gives a ton of leverage to the league." Since the owners are "willing to take an uncapped year, an effort by the union to get a deal done before March 2010 will require greater concessions to be made, because the league feels no urgency to work out a new deal before the salary cap -- and the salary floor -- disappear." The league now will have a "full year to load up the war chest for a work stoppage by spending less money, and the players will have less money to stuff in the mattresses in advance of an extended period in 2011 with no income." The league "knows that the players want to avoid that," and will "take full advantage of what is, in many respects, a soft cry of 'uncle'" from Smith (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 10/27).

SPREAD OFFENSE: Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund officials yesterday "announced an expanded medical program" to aid retired NFL players. The fund said that it has provided $1.5M "in financial grants and medical aid since 2007." The announcement comes on the eve of today's Congressional hearings to address "dementia and post-concussions syndrome" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/28).