With the NFL closing in on a new 10-year CBA, owners and players "will return to the negotiating table in a mediation setting on Monday and Tuesday to settle a handful of unresolved issues," according to sources cited by Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com. Sources indicated that the sides will meet either in N.Y. or DC, and U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan "could join them on either day." Before departing for an overseas vacation on July 9, Boylan "ordered a mediation session in Minneapolis" for tomorrow. It appeared that the session "would be cancelled after the progress made" in negotiations last week, but sources said that the "hope is that mediation will nudge the two sides to a final agreement in time for the players to vote to recertify as a union and approve an agreement Wednesday." Under that scenario, the owners "would ratify the new CBA on Thursday at the league meetings in Atlanta." Sources indicated that the two sides "also could use Wednesday morning to finish their mediated negotiation session, if necessary." Sources said that the "outstanding unresolved issues" include the players wanting "restoration of $320 million in lost benefits from the 2010 uncapped season." In addition, players "want to limit use of the franchise tag on unrestricted free agents to a one-time application." The two sides also still need to settle Brady v. NFL, and sources said that the NFLPA "has begun to contact some of the 10 plaintiffs regarding settling the antitrust suit." Other outstanding issues include "workman's compensation" and settlement of the "television damages case stemming from U.S. District Judge David Doty's ruling" (ESPN.com, 7/17). In DC, Mark Maske cited sources as saying that the "resolution of the players’ lawsuit is the most significant remaining task before the deal becomes official." It is "not clear whether the deal between the league and the players will be constructed as a settlement of the lawsuit." The players also could "withdraw the lawsuit if the two sides agree to a labor deal" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/17).
FORWARD PROGRESS: In N.Y., Bart Hubbuch reports while the "situation remains fragile," sources yesterday said that the "most contentious issues have been settled and both sides expect a handshake agreement in time for the owners to hold a ratification vote at their previously scheduled meeting Thursday in Atlanta" (N.Y. POST, 7/18). The AP's Fendrich & Wilner cited sources as saying that parts of the CBA "largely in place" include the players' portion of the NFL's full annual revenues, which "will be on a sliding scale with a floor" of 46.5% and a ceiling of 48.5%. There "no longer will be the old formula, under which owners got a cut off the top for various operating expenses before revenues were divided." The new percentages "represent a decrease for players, because they were winding up with a higher percentage under the old contract, which is among the main reasons spurring owners to opt out of that deal." The players "are still hoping, though, to get a commitment from owners that each team will spend a minimum amount of the cap." Also under the proposed CBA, "most players will be able to become unrestricted free agents after four years in the league, and the owners' hope for being able to get a right of first refusal on three players per team in 2011 was dropped." In addition, first-round draft picks "will sign four-year deals, with a club option for the fifth year" (AP, 7/16). In Boston, Ron Borges cited sources as saying that several NFLPA members last week "talked for three hours with a group of owners in a hotel meeting room in New York about both in-season and offseason changes to practice rules and offseason training schedules." The players want a "reduction in contact drills and full-pad practices, a reduction in offseason workouts, and other changes designed to increase player safety and make violations of rules already in place enforceable" (BOSTON HERALD, 7/16). Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones: "This has been as productive a time as we've had (during the talks). Everybody is focused in" (N.Y. POST, 7/16).
READY OR NOT ... NFL officials have said that they "don't intend to allow free agency to begin" until a new CBA is signed and formally completed. Teams "might be given a window of a few days to try to re-sign their own free agents before those players are allowed to sign with other clubs." Teams also "must sign the rookies they drafted in April and undrafted rookie free agents." Rosters are "likely to be expanded for this year’s training camps" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/16). In N.Y., Gary Myers noted "once signings are allowed, it is expected teams will be given an exclusive three-day window to attempt to re-sign their own free agents." Agent Joel Segal said on Saturday, "When the free-agent period starts it's going to be fast, and deals will be done at a rapid pace due to the time constraints" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/17). The N.Y. POST's Hubbuch noted nobody "knows for certain when the NFL’s free-agency period will start or how long it’s going to last," but when it does "watch out." One GM said, "It’s going to be crazy. None of us has ever been through anything like this." Hubbuch noted "not only will it be chaotic, but every team likely will have money to burn -- and the requirement to do so." An NFL agent said, "Money is going to be burning a hole in these guys’ pockets. It’s going to be crazy. For a lot of the players, it’ll be a great time to be a free agent" (N.Y. POST, 7/17). In West Palm Beach, Dave George wrote, "The whirlwind of bids and negotiations that's coming, however, will blow everyone away. It's multi-tasking gone mad, and every personnel director in the league will be doing it at once" (PALM BEACH POST, 7/17).
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Players will likely recertify NFLPA once
new CBA is reached |
PICKING UP THE PIECES: In Pittsburgh, Ray Fittipaldo noted with a new CBA close, "there is the issue of the players reforming as a union." That is "almost certain to happen because both parties believe it is beneficial for them." Most employers "discourage unions from forming, but NFL owners want a players union because its existence protects the league's long-standing exemption from federal antitrust law." For players, it has been "easier to negotiate with the owners collectively rather than individually, when it comes to winning better benefits and compensation." There is, however, "precedent for the league operating without a players union." When the players last decertified, in '89, "they did not reform as a union until four years later" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/18). Meanwhile, CBSSPORTS.com's Ray Ratto wrote the NFL should rehire the laid-off league employees and get them back "in the building and on the job." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is "close to getting his take-home pay bounced back to eight-figures, so it might be -- no, it is time -- for all the folks in the fives and sixes who got canned after the 2009 season for economic reasons to be offered their gigs back." Ratto: "In short, this ought to be one of Goodell's initiatives once he whipsaws/cajoles/begs the owners to agree to the new deal -- to announce a plan to repatriate the folks who made the office run. ... There are folks here who weren't threatened with job losses, as the players and stadium workers and team employees were, but people who actually did lose their jobs, all as part of pre-lockout posturing. Theirs are the jobs that should be restored first as part of the post-lockout posturing" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/15).
NO DAMAGE DONE? In N.Y., Steve Serby wrote under the header, "Football Fans Will Cheer New Labor Deal." It is a "shame we have been forced to wait on pins and needles for sudden-death overtime for the billionaires and millionaires to reach the conclusion that it would be unadulterated folly to kill the $9.3 billion golden goose." Still, "better late than never," because football fans are "on the verge of getting our autumn and winter Sundays and Mondays back" (N.Y. POST, 7/16). The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' Myers wrote the owners and players "were each losers for antagonizing fans who had no patience for this big-money battle." But they "were each winners because they will get this settled in time to protect their money," and in the end, "this billionaires vs. millionaires slugfest was an offseason business negotiation that will have little long-term effect." One GM said, "Believe me, it's a speed bump. It's no manhole. When we look back at the 2011 season, whatever casualties resulted from this will be remedied" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/16). But in Detroit, Drew Sharp wrote, "If you honestly think the NFL shutting its doors for more than four months won't have a short-term detriment on the on-field product, then this should be the standard operating procedure for every year from this point forward" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/17).
