Tag: NFL lockout 2011 (Page 6 of 7)

      2011 NFL season to be uncapped once the lockout ends?

      March 14, 2011 /
      National Football League Players’ Association’s (NFLPA) Executive Director DeMaurice Smith arrives to continue negotiations between the National Football League (NFL) and NFLPA in Washington March 11, 2011. The parties were still negotiating a range of sticking points, including how to divide more than $9 billion in annual revenues, but the players’ union insist one issue, the NFL’s proposal to add two more games to the regular season, was off the table. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES – Tags: EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS SPORT FOOTBALL)

      The Washington Post is reporting that the 2011 NFL season would likely be played with no salary cap if the players succeed in ending the owners’ lockout.

      That would mean there would be no player-payroll maximum or minimum for NFL teams. Players with expired contracts would need six years of NFL service time to be eligible for unrestricted free agency, rather than the four seasons required when the salary cap system was in effect; players with expired contracts and three to five seasons of NFL experience would be restricted free agents. Each team would have an extra transition-player tag, in addition to the one franchise-player or transition-player designation allowed per club under the salary cap system, to restrict players’ movement in free agency, and there would be limits on the free agent activity of last season’s final eight playoff teams.

      The reason that system would be used, sources said, is that it might have a better chance of withstanding an antitrust challenge by the players, given that the union previously agreed to those rules for an uncapped year in collective bargaining. Attorneys for the players’ side have said they would challenge in court any rules put in place by the league if the lockout is lifted.

      The NFL is a victim of its own success. After making the game extremely popular over the last decade, fans are rightfully ticked off about this lockout. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve reached a point where I hope neither the players nor owners get what they want in the end.

      An uncapped year would be great because the players ultimately won’t get what they want. The union has always wanted players to reach free agency as quickly as possible so that they can cash in great seasons. But as the Post points out, in an uncapped year players with expired contracts would need six years of NFL service to quality for free agency – not four like it would be under a cap. So there would be no “cashing in.”

      In the end, both the players and owners will come to realize that their best bet was just to compromise months ago. Now they’re in a hell of their own making and I wouldn’t mind seeing both sides get burned in the process.

      External Sports, NFL

      The NFL lockout affects more than just players and owners

      March 12, 2011 /

      Assistant coaches and lower personnel people may lose their jobs over this.

      Businesses across America may suffer greatly.

      Lives may be affected.

      The NFL lockout is more than just millionaires fighting with billionaires over revenue. If there’s no season next year, consider how much money hotels, restaurants and shops will lose when teams and tourists don’t come to town for 17-plus weeks throughout the fall and winter. We’re already in the middle of an economic struggle, why must everyone suffer more?

      Look, I get it. I know the NFL is a business, too. In fact, I know that it’s a business first and a game second. I wish it weren’t, but that’s just reality. The owners are running a business and they want to make as much profit as possible. In that regard, I don’t think they should have to open their financial books to the players. Hey, it’s their business, right? That said, how can the owners ask the players to take a paycut when they’re not willing to provide intricate details as to why?

      But the bigger picture has obviously been lost here. If you don’t think the NFL has an big impact on people, think again. I’ve got a friend who served this fine country overseas and last April he woke up in the middle of the night just to watch the first round of the NFL draft. Think about that for a second: the NFL draft, not the Super Bowl, the playoffs or even an important regular season game, provided a brief distraction for a man, a soldier, half a world away fighting in a war. That’s how much the NFL can affect someone.

      As it stands now, nobody will have the opportunity to enjoy the draft, or free agency, or possibly even the season because grown men can’t compromise. How ridiculous. How absurd. How unnecessary.

      If I knew we had it in us, I would love to see every fan boycott the NFL if this lockout lasted until September. I would love to hit the owners’ wallet hard and for the players to actually feel the impact of what’s going on here. But that won’t happen. We love our football and we’ll be back once these greedy SOBs come to an agreement. It’s sad, but it’s also reality.

      So we wait on you, owners and players. We wait on you to figure out the best way to divvy up our money. Shame on you. Shame on you for not understanding what kind of effect you have on us.

      External Sports, NFL

      2011 NFL Draft to be canceled now?

      March 12, 2011 /

      As if the NFL and NFLPA haven’t bent over the fans enough, now it appears as though there may not even be a draft.

      According to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal, the NFL players’ lawsuit in a U.S. district court is seeking declaration that the NFL draft violates antitrust laws. Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller is even named as a plaintiff in the suit. (How is his draft stock looking these days?)

      Throughout this entire absurd process, fans have been under the assumption that, at the very least, there would be a draft in 2011. But hey, seeing as how there’s no free agency, no trades and there may not even be a season next year, what’s the point in having a draft? Why not take everything away from fans? Clearly the league is not for them anyway. It’s for the greedy players and the even greedier owners.

      My apologizes for sounding like a scorned lover but this is ridiculous. The draft was the last and only thing fans had to look forward to this offseason and now that could be stripped from us as well. Maybe this was a naïve thought but I kind of felt that the draft represented hope that there will be a season next year. But now? Who knows. I’m feeling less optimistic about this situation than ever this morning.

      Buckle up fans, it’s about to get bumpy.

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      As owners make last ditch proposal, the NFLPA decides its next move. Could another deadline be coming?

      March 11, 2011 /
      National Football League Players’ Association’s (NFLPA) Executive Director DeMaurice Smith (2nd R wearing hat) arrives with players to continue negotiations between the National Football League (NFL) and NFLPA in Washington March 11, 2011. The parties were still negotiating a range of sticking points, including how to divide more than $9 billion in annual revenues, but the players’ union insist one issue, the NFL’s proposal to add two more games to the regular season, was off the table. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS)

      If you’re searching for the latest news on the NFL labor dispute, good luck. It appears that nobody, not even the most plugged in reporters, knows exactly what’s going on inside those meeting rumors. Which I guess means that the NFL and NFLPA have successfully managed to do something together: black out the media.

      But as we draw closer to the 5:00PM ET deadline that the players have to decertify, SI.com’s Peter King and ESPN’s Adam Schefter have shared a morsel of news via their Twitter pages. According to one of his sources, King says that the NFL owners made revised offers on core issues this morning but Schefter writes that DeMaurice Smith told the players in a conference call to be prepared to decertify. Schefter also notes, “If nothing else, the NFL gave the NFLPA something to think about today with its last-ditch proposal. NFLPA now deciding what’s next.”

      If you want to remain really, really optimistic about the situation, there’s still a chance that the two sides will agree on a new CBA before the players decertify and before the current CBA expires at 11:59PM ET Friday night. If you want to feel somewhat optimistic, then maybe the two sides will agree to another extension and talks will resume next week. If you want to feel realistic, then it appears that the players are heading for a decertification and the owners are heading for a lockout.

      Personally, I’m somewhere in between somewhat optimistic and realistic at this point. I think the Pirates have a better chance of winning the World Series this year than the owners and players coming to an agreement in these last remaining hours. But part of me believes the union has seen enough give from the owners to allow the deadline to decertify pass and agree to another extension. Hopefully my somewhat optimistic side wins out, but I’m also aware that the players’ biggest play is to decertify. If the owners know they can’t decertify, will they be willing to compromise further next week? Doubtful.

      And so we wait…

      Update: Here’s the latest from Schefter: “De Smith: Met with owners till 4. Discussed proposal. Significant differences remain. Informed owners they need more info. Want answers by 5. Significant differences remain. Informed owners they need more info. Want answers by 5.”

      Another Update: The union has decertified.

      So it looks like reality is about to win out. *Shakes head, stomps feet and curses to the NFL gods.*

      External Sports, NFL

      NFLPA is ready to decertify on Friday

      March 11, 2011 /
      National Football League Players’ Association’s (NFLPA) Executive Director DeMaurice Smith speaks to the media as he arrives to continue negotiations between the National Football League (NFL) and NFLPA in Washington March 11, 2011. The parties were still negotiating a range of sticking points, including how to divide more than $9 billion in annual revenues, but the players’ union insist one issue, the NFL’s proposal to add two more games to the regular season, was off the table. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES – Tags: EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS SPORT FOOTBALL)

      The current CBA deadline may be set for 11:59PM ET on Friday but for the NFL and NFLPA to avoid a lockout, the two sides will have to come to an agreement much sooner than that.

      That’s because the deadline for the players to decertify is approximately 5:00PM ET, or seven hours before the CBA deadline is set. And the NFLPA has already filed the paperwork to take the necessary actions once that deadline hits. In essence, the two sides will either have to agree on a new CBA (or at the very least, another extension), or prepare for a lockout/decertification.

      The hiccup in talks still appears to be the owners’ unwillingness to show the players audited financial statements for every team. The owners did open up their books earlier this week, but the players want more intricate details. In the eyes of the union, it’s not enough for the owners to ask the players to take a paycut and only provide overall yearly numbers. The NFLPA want more.

      The players have already won a couple of battles but the war is far from over. U.S. Eighth District Court Judge David S. Doty’s ruling that the owners can’t use the annual TV revenue to financially support a lockout was a big win for the players. And if they decertify, they would be heading back to court with Doty, who has sided more with the them than the owners when it’s come to past labor transgressions.

      But while the players would have an alley in Doty, avoiding him is still the goal. Coming to an agreement with the owners so that there’s a season next year is what everyone (from the NFLPA to the fans) wants in the end. If they decertify, then the divide between them and the owners because much bigger than it already is, which is only fueling the problem.

      External Sports, News, NFL

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