Category: NFL (Page 165 of 1282)

      Owners, union agree to a 24-hour CBA extension but FA still won’t start

      March 3, 2011 /
      NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell arrives for labor negotiations between NFL players and owners with federal mediation in Washington on March 3, 2011. The current collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight tonight and a lockout is possible but not definite if none is reached. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg.

      The NFL and the Players Association have agreed to a 24-hour extension on CBA talks. There could still be a lockout by Saturday morning but at least the two sides are committed to keeping the lines of communication open for the next 24 hours.

      Now that an extension is in place the question on some fans’ minds is whether or not free agency will start. The answer is no. Once the clock strikes midnight, all league transactions will cease.

      There’s a chance that the 24-hour extension may turn into a 48 or even 72-hour extension, but it still seems likely that we’re heading for a lockout. If that happens, the Players Association is prepared to decertify, which means the union would no longer represent the players. The players would then be giving up their rights under labor law and instead they would take their chances in court under antitrust law.

      If all of this is confusing, I’ve prepared a flow chart to help it all make sense:

      NFL Players Union = Greedy.

      NFL Owners = Greedier.

      Union + Owners = Lockout.

      Fans = Screwed.

      Here’s hoping a miracle happens in the next 24 hours and the two sides agree to terms. Once this happens, free agency can begin and then football fans can go back to sleeping again.

      External Sports, NFL

      Robert Gallery won’t return to the Raiders in 2011

      March 3, 2011 /

      After speaking with owner Al Davis, guard Robert Gallery has decided it’s time to move on and will not be returning to Oakland next season.

      “We’ve come to a mutual agreement that it’s time for me to move on with my career,” Gallery told the media on Thursday.

      Gallery has been a favorite of Al Davis since the 2004 draft when the former Hawkeye was selected with the second overall pick. After he struggled mightily at tackle in the 2006 season, the Raiders switched him to left guard and it was there that he resurrected his career. Still regarded as a bust given that he was drafted with the number two overall pick (and as a tackle, not as a guard, which rarely go in the top 10), Gallery has developed into a highly efficient run-blocker the past two years.

      Seattle is viewed as a potential landing spot for Gallery because Tom Cable, his former head coach in Oakland, is now coaching the Seahawks’ offensive line. The only question is whether or not Gallery would be willing to move to right guard. Max Unger missed all but one game last year with a toe injury, but is viewed as a key piece along Seattle’s O-line. The Hawks could stand an upgrade at right guard seeing as how Stacy Andrews is a candidate to be released this offseason and was replaced by Mike Gibson at the end of the year. But Gallery might be more apt to go someplace where he’s assured the left guard position.

      As for the Raiders, they’ll likely rely on 2010 fourth round pick Bruce Campbell to replace Gallery on their offensive line. Campbell is a former tackle himself from the University of Maryland. Ironically, he was being mocked to go to the Raiders in the first round, but he fell to them in the fourth.

      External Sports, News, NFL

      Jeremy Shockey chooses Panthers over Dolphins

      March 3, 2011 /

      When he was hired in January, new Panthers coach Ron Rivera said that he would target a “do-it-all” tight end this offseason.

      He can now call off the search.

      Rivera found his tight end in former Saint Jeremy Shockey, who has decided to sign a one-year deal with the Panthers instead of the Dolphins, who were also interested in his services.

      “Looks like I’m signing with Carolina,” Shockey wrote via his Twitter page.

      Whether he wound up with the Panthers or Dolphins, Shockey presumably was going to have an opportunity to make plays next year. Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski has a history of utilizing tight ends, as does new Miami OC Brian Daboll (almost to a fault in Daboll’s case). But in the end, it’s not surprising that Shockey chose the Panthers seeing as how Chudzinksi was his former tight end coach at the University of Miami nearly a decade ago.

      It’ll be interesting to see if Shockey winds up catching passes next season from Jimmy Clausen or if the Panthers will select a quarterback with the top overall pick in April’s draft.

      External Sports, News, NFL

      President Obama will not get involved in NFL CBA talks

      March 3, 2011 /
      U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon (L) in the East Room of the White House in Washington March 3, 2011. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS)

      At a press conference today with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in the East Room of the White House, President Obama answered several questions, including one about the ongoing collective bargaining talks between the NFL owners and the NFL players. Obama was asked whether he planned on mediating the talks or getting involved in any way, given that the two sides are on the brink of a possible lockout.

      Obama was quick to respond that he had no intention of getting involved.

      “My working assumption, at a time when people are having to cut back and compromise and worry about making the mortgage and paying for their kids college education is that the two parties should be able to work it out without the President of the United States intervening.”

      Obama noted the obvious – that he had much more important things to focus on.

      “I’m a big football fan, but I also think that for an industry that’s making nine billion dollars a year in revenue, they can figure out how to divide it up in a sensible way.”

      In the current economic environment, this is a hardly surprising response.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, External Sports, NFL

      Owners won’t give in just because of the TV ruling

      March 2, 2011 /

      U.S. District Court Judge David Doty issued a ruling that will likely prevent owners from accessing the TV payments that would have helped fund a potential lockout. As Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports writes, this is potentially a good thing for fans because it may force the owners to compromise.

      Doty’s ruling, while an obvious boon to the NFLPA’s cause, wasn’t so much a smackdown of the owners’ position as it was a blow for labor peace. If the owners react to this judicial setback in a rational manner, they’ll lose their hardline bluster and come back to the bargaining table with a renewed sense of compromise.

      Conversely, once Tuesday night’s buzz wears off, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and his fellow negotiators should resist the temptation to gloat and instead push for a CBA that bridges the philosophical gap between the two parties.

      If those reasonable and logical reactions occur when the two sides meet on Wednesday, I believe we’ll soon have an announcement from the camps that they’ve agreed to a short-term extension of the current CBA beyond March 3 – in the expectation of finalizing a deal over the next week or two.

      In other words, after more than a year of rancorous rhetoric and the sense that a lockout was inevitable, we could have peace, love and harmony between players and owners by the end of the month, and well in advance of next month’s NFL draft. Free agency, minicamps, OTAs, training camp – it could all play out like a typical offseason, with fantasy drafts occurring right on schedule.

      That’s how much power Doty’s ruling may have packed.

      I’m not trying to burst Silver’s bubble, but the owners have been planning this lockout for years. They’re not going to cave just because of one ruling, even one as significant as this. There will be plenty of rulings coming up in the near future and maybe the next one will side in the favor of the owners. We just have to wait and see.

      I want there to be football next season just as much as the next red-blooded American, so I hope Silver’s thoughts come to fruition and we see a quick compromise. (I also don’t doubt the impact that this ruling may have on the labor discussions.) But the owners are going to appeal this ruling, so I wouldn’t hold my breath on a timely resolution to this gigantic mess.

      External Sports, NFL

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