http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8146886?MSNHPHMASources: NFL owners consider voiding CBA
by JAY GLAZER and ALEX MARVEZ, FOXSports.com
Updated: May 16, 2008, 3:15 PM EST 27 comments
The NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement, as it now stands, may be a short-lived deal.
What it all means
Confused by the details of the NFL labor agreement? Fear not. Alex Marvez tells you what will happen — and what won't — if owners decide to opt out of the CBA. Check it out Here:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8146990/If-owners-opt-out-of-CBA,-what-will-happen?In a series of conference calls this week, NFL owners have seriously discussed voiding the current labor agreement, FOXSports.com has learned. Team owners believe the current labor agreement, which gives players 59 percent of the defined gross revenues, is too lopsided in favor of the NFLPA.
The opt-out could come at Tuesday's spring meeting. According to one source, those on the phone calls discussed pulling the trigger as early as next week because it's the beginning of the league's down time.
Only nine votes from NFL owners are needed to abort the CBA in 2011 rather than 2013.
"It's hard to predict Tuesday that [owners] are going to nuke the CBA," a high-ranking team executive told FOXSports.com. "I don't think that's accurate right now, but the subject is going to come up whether this is a better time than in November. There's a broad concern that [the NFL] doesn't want this to become a focus that takes away from the regular season.
"Everyone agrees that we want to maintain a strong, competitive league. There is a mindset that this is a step along the way that helps clarify things. It seems rather obvious the league is going to opt out. Rather than have that looming, let's get that behind us, roll up our sleeves and get to work on a new CBA."
Should the owners in fact make the move next week, it would dramatically alter the NFL's landscape for the next few years. Such a significant move would make the 2009 campaign the last year in which the salary cap is in effect. 2010 would be uncapped. The NFL would also still have a draft in 2011, but beyond that everything else would be up in the air.
The owners have until November 8th to void the current agreement.
"I think deadlines are helpful in trying to get things resolved," commissioner Roger Goodell said at April's NFL owners meeting. "Any time a deadline can be established to force us into reaching an agreement on a particularly issue, that's helpful to us."
Calls for comment to both the Commissioner's office and NFL Players Association head Gene Upshaw on Friday have not yet been returned. However, Upshaw and upper NFLPA management are expected in Atlanta, which could lead to CBA dialogue.
The NFL and the players association have renewed the CBA five times, the most recent coming in March 2006. In that vote, the owners ratified the agreement by a 30-2 count, extending the labor deal through the 2011 season.
"The objective is to get a labor agreement, one that works for both parties," Goodell said last month. "That's what we're working towards. Obviously as part of planning we have to look at various alternatives. The reality is, and I think the union understands this, and we certainly understand this, you can grow your business better if you're in partnership. That's what having labor peace helps you do. That's one of the things we clearly understand. I believe the union fully agrees with that. That's what we're going to continue to try to do."
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