NFL and NFLPA officials met in N.Y. yesterday to “go over details of a potential settlement that would end the lockout, setting the stage for key participants to close the deal starting tomorrow at the same location,” according to Bart Hubbuch of the N.Y. POST. Sources said that that there “still is no agreement on the overriding issue -- the split of annual league revenues that goes to the players -- but that the sides aren’t nearly as far apart as they were early in the dispute.” Both sides “remain optimistic in private conversations that a settlement can be reached soon that would end the players’ antitrust lawsuit against the owners,” and there “continue to be other indications that a settlement is imminent.” Hubbuch notes NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith and “several owners and players” will “rejoin the talks tomorrow” (N.Y. POST, 7/6). In N.Y., Judy Battista notes the talks were “still described as fragile by someone who had been briefed over the weekend.” Smith and some current players also were “said to be angered by a complaint filed by a group of retired players who believe their interests have not been properly represented during the negotiations,” but “nobody on either sides seems to think the complaint could derail the deal” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/6).
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT: NFL.com’s Albert Breer wrote there “clearly is a deal to be done between these parties, because if there wasn’t, then reasons to continue talking after five weeks would have dwindled.” However, that “hardly means [the] deal will be done in time to beat the clock on saving the preseason, which means the parties remain in a very precarious spot with plenty of work left to be done.” If a CBA is not agreed to by July 15, and preseason games are "taken off the calendar, the long-term deal the owners put on the table will start looking a lot worse in the short term, and the culture of the sport makes it so Smith would have an exponentially harder time selling the team if it works only later and not now.” An NFL source said, “The deal erodes as revenues erode.” Breer wrote, “What has happened up to this point can be addressed. But the real damage is coming -- and coming fast -- which is why the next two weeks are critical” (NFL.com, 7/5). CBSSPORTS.com's Mike Freeman wrote under the header, "Yo, NFL, We're Tired Of 'It's Close;' Just Get Deal Done" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/5). But ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio said sources told him the “sides are too far apart on the proposed revenue split and how to define revenues." Paolantonio: "That puts the first week of preseason in serious jeopardy” ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 7/5).
STILL PLANNING FOR HOF GAME: Pro Football HOF President & Exec Dir Steve Perry said that the venue is "still on track to hold" the Bears-Rams Pro Football HOF Game on Aug. 7. Bears-Rams is the first NFL preseason game of the year, and Perry said, "We've heard from both parties -- the owners and the players -- and they've expressed their desire to have the game. So that's our plan." However, ESPN.com's Paolantonio reported negotiators on both sides have said that a deal on a new CBA "would have to be reached by July 15 at the latest for the Bears and Rams to go to camp on time." Perry: "There is some uncertainty out there. But we're planning to have the game. Nobody has told us otherwise. In fact, both sides have told us they want to play the game." Perry said that tickets for "about half the 22,000-seat Fawcett Stadium have been sold" (ESPN.com, 7/5). HOF VP/Communications & Exhibits Joe Horrigan said, “The only thing we can control is that we are prepared regardless of what the magical date might be” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7/6). But Bears S Chris Harris yesterday “wondered what the purpose” of playing the game would be if the team “can’t report to training camp on July 22, as scheduled.” Harris: “I’m cool with playing (the Hall of Fame) game if we get training camp started on time. But anything past (July 22) then I’m not cool with it” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/6).
LET'S SHAKE ON IT: In DC, Mark Maske reported a "handshake deal by the end of this week would enable the sport to have a free agent signing period of a significant length before the teams would open their training camps in late July to early August, and a full preseason would be played beginning next month." However, the league "apparently does not intend to allow free agency to begin until a new collective bargaining agreement is written and formally approved." Sources have previously said that it is "likely to take about two weeks to turn a handshake deal into an official, written agreement." Therefore, a "handshake deal by Friday night might result in free agency commencing around July 22" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/5). Also in DC, Mike Jones reports the Redskins coaching staff is preparing as if the team “will report for training camp on time.” The Redskins are “planning on a training camp that would begin July 28th” (WASHINGTON POST, 7/6).
LODGING A COMPLAINT: The N.Y. TIMES’ Battista reported a group of retired players Monday filed a class-action complaint in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis "against the teams, the league, the players named in the Brady v. NFL lawsuit" and Smith. It "asserted that the sides were violating antitrust laws by negotiating settlement terms that improperly encompassed the rights of retired players in the time since the NFLPA renounced its union status." Attorney Michael Hausfeld, who is representing the retired players, said, "We feel we have a seat at the table, but we're having the chair pulled out from under us." The complaint "seeks an injunction to halt discussions between the league and current players related to retiree issues." But the "real goal" is to have U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson "instruct the mediator, the league and the current players to allow representatives of the retired players to be active participants in the negotiations." Battista noted the court must first "decide if retired players have standing to bring an antitrust complaint, because they are not active participants in the marketplace of the NFL" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/5). The retired players in the complaint said the defendants are "conspiring to depress the amounts of pension and disability benefits paid to former NFL players in order to maximize the salaries and benefits to current NFL players" (AP, 7/4).
KINDER, GENTLER DE: The N.Y. POST's Hubbuch wrote Smith "doesn't seem as strident as he seemed in March or even late May, and the light touch has extended to both private dinners and joint public appearances with Goodell in recent weeks." Hubbuch: "Smith will be a hero to a lot more than the players if he can do his part soon to broker a deal that saves the entire 2011 season." An AFC team owner last month said, "He's earned some respect (from the owners). Am I going to praise the guy? No. At the same time, I don't think he's leading (the players) over a cliff anymore" (N.Y. POST, 7/3). Meanwhile, CBSSPORTS.com's Freeman wrote Smith should "dump" his lawyers. Sources said that NFLPA attorneys have been "recently picking stupid fights over petty technical issues and arguing over who is going to pay for retiree benefits when the league has offered a fair 50-50 split." The arguments "have delayed the negotiating process." Freeman: "What has become clear is Jeffrey Kessler and Jim Quinn are wielding far too much power, and they are using that power, in my opinion, to push their own agendas instead of the agendas of the players. ... While the owners have not always been honest brokers, for the moment it's your lawyers who are holding up a deal. Your lawyers are standing in the way" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/3).
LONG-TERM IMPACTS: YAHOO SPORTS' Michael Silver wrote if there is a "tentative deal on a new collective bargaining agreement by the end of the month, the NFL will come out looking better than Aaron Rodgers last Super Sunday." Many fans will be "so grateful that football is back that they'll swallow their earlier vows of punishing the labor war's perpetrators and greet them like long-lost lovers." Silver added, "It makes too much sense for both sides to settle for it not to happen" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/5). Meanwhile, in Rochester, Bob Matthews wrote with "each passing day, I'm wondering more if we'd be better off in the long run if the NFL and the NBA do take their entire seasons off." Matthews: "Maybe the owners and players would more appreciate how great they have it if they shut down for a year. ... I don't think that will happen and I'm not rooting for it to happen. But it wouldn't be a national calamity." College football and basketball "could satisfy the hunger of American sports fans for the two sports if the NFL and NBA shut down for a season" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 7/3).
