In N.Y., Ken Belson in a front-page piece reports some former NFLers "may get very little" from the league's concussion settlement, but others with severe neurological diseases may receive as much as $5M. Now lawyers, lenders and would-be advisers are "circling, pitching their services and trying to get a cut of the money." It may be "standard practice for big legal settlements, but the fact that many players are cognitively impaired and may struggle to understand the terms of the services offered to them has raised alarm among player advocates, legal ethicists and the lawyers for the players who sued the NFL (N.Y. TIMES, 7/17).
IT'S IN THE CONTRACT: In Boston, Ben Volin wrote the focus of NFLers "shouldn’t be on getting fully guaranteed contracts" in the next CBA. If contracts became guaranteed, owners "would simply adjust by giving players shorter deals and less money up front." Instead, the players "need to focus on eliminating the two significant artificial barriers that limit their earnings." The NFLPA’s "top priority needs to be fixing the rookie contract system." In the old CBA, rookies had "more room to negotiate their first contracts, and could renegotiate after Year 2." But if players "could renegotiate after Year 2, and owners have to start worrying about holdouts and big contracts for youngsters, the veteran middle class will look more attractive in free agency, and star players will see their values increase as well" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/16). In Orlando, David Whitley wrote under the header, "NFL Players Shouldn't Gripe Over NBA Salaries." CBAs give players in both leagues roughly 50% of the income. There are 53 players on NFL active rosters and 12 on NBA active rosters. Whitley: "Is the math that hard to figure out, guys?" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/16).
FASHION STATEMENT: PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio cited a source as saying that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "continues to be miffed about Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s decision to wear the Barstool Sports Goodell-with-a-clown-nose T-shirt while disembarking from the plane that brought the team back from Super Bowl LI" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 7/16).
