As NFL teams begin the "usually smooth process of signing their draft picks, some are running into resistance from the players' union, which urged agents in a memo last month to reject provisions it says are prohibited from rookie contracts" under the CBA, according to Tom Pelissero of USA TODAY. The NFLPA argued that "contract provisions regarding how teams may collect money that players owe them, when players are required to pass a physical, whether they must disclose changes in their health and other issues aren’t expressly permitted under the 2011 CBA and thus cannot be included in contracts, even if they’ve been incorporated in the past." Multiple NFL execs and agents said that it has "slowed down negotiations with certain clubs." The '11 CBA "slotted" draft pick contracts, so there is "little room to haggle over money, and holdouts are rare." But each team "uses its own standard contract language, which has put some clubs in the NFLPA's crosshairs." Execs from two teams said that they "believe the union is misinterpreting Article 7, Section 3 (c), which lays out 13 permissible terms that don’t involve compensation, such as promotional appearances, workers compensation, insurance policies" and other terms. One exec said, "The union is arguing that, if you put something in your language that doesn’t fall directly within those 13 things, it’s prohibited. The league’s position is it’s not limited in scope to those specific 13 things -- those are just examples of non-compensation terms, but they’re not definitive that you can’t go outside those.” Pelissero noted it is "unlikely this dispute will cause any player to miss time." But it "could lead to a grievance down the line and presents an extra hurdle for some teams and agents in negotiations, at a time when few hurdles with rookie deals remain" (USATODAY.com, 5/5).
