NFL owners and players could each vote today on a new 10-year labor pact and to end the antitrust litigation against the league, though significant hurdles remained as of this morning. The NFL does not want to approve separate deals to settle the Brady v NFL antitrust lawsuit and then a labor deal. The league wants those two matters, plus other outstanding litigation, to be wrapped into one package.
The NFLPA yesterday sent for conditional approval of a settlement agreement to the Brady plaintiffs, but did not vote on the CBA, as many had expected them to do. “No global settlement, no CBA. No CBA, the lockout continues,” a source close to the talks said. NFL Exec VP/Labor & General Counsel Jeff Pash took a decidedly more upbeat tone in speaking to reporters early yesterday evening outside the Atlanta hotel where the owners are planning to vote today.
“We’ll find out if there are issues that still need to be negotiated and we’re going to work cooperatively with them through the evening and try to have something in place that both sides can vote on tomorrow morning,” he said.
He did not rule out the owners voting first, something that was not expected to occur because the league has wanted assurances the NFLPA will reform as a union before voting. Some within in the league believe if it comes to it, voting first might pressure the players into accepting a deal
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There were other unresolved issues as of this morning, including where players could file worker compensation claims, and a damage amount from the lockout fees case a federal judge found in favor of the NFLPA. However, a key source said this morning that the $320M demand from the players stemming from unpaid benefits in ‘10 that were not required under the now expired labor deal was no longer an issue. Another source reasoned the players might be trying to simply wait to see if the league bends on certain issues at the last moment.
It is possible that the votes could be pushed into later today or even tomorrow. But Pash warned the time would soon come to a close when the entire preseason could be salvaged. “We’ll see. It’s getting tight. It’s getting pretty tight. It would be pretty challenging.”
