XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck sent a letter to NFL agents on Friday warning them about restrictions in contracts for other competing leagues that could potentially prevent them from signing with the XFL in the future. "I wanted to update you on what you can expect from the XFL, and make you aware of a number of issues related to spring football that may inhibit your client’s freedom in choosing to join our league when we launch in 2020," Luck wrote in the letter. More than 1,000 players were cut this weekend as NFL clubs were required to reduce their roster size from 90 players to 53. "Competitive leagues appear to be offering multi-year contracts that may have restrictions and/or non-compete clauses that could severely limit your client’s ability to play for other leagues, including the XFL," Luck wrote. The letter did not mention the name of any specific competing league. An XFL spokesperson in an email wrote, "XFL is engaging in a series of communications to the agent community designed to introduce our league and share pertinent information" (Liz Mullen, Staff Writer).
LOOKING FOR A PLAYER BASE: NBCSPORTS.com's Peter King noted there likely will be "quite a few" players cut from NFL rosters who sign with the Alliance of American Football, which is slated to begin play next February. AAF Head of Football Development Hines Ward indicated that the league "will offer players three-year deals" and that it hopes to "get a bedrock of developmental players who've never had the sustained chance to play pro football." Ward added that players "will be able to leave the AAF to return to the NFL if offered NFL deals" (NBCSPORTS.com, 9/3).
