NFL | Free agency could be pushed back once again Tue, 7 Mar 2006 16:28:28 -0800 ESPN.com's John Clayton reports there is some thought that if owners are still talking Wednesday night, March 8, free agency could be pushed back another 24 hours
NFL | Labor talks continue Tue, 7 Mar 2006 19:31:26 -0800 Nick Eatman, of DallasCowboys.com, reports despite more than eight hours of meetings between NFL owners Tuesday, March 7, at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, there is no new labor deal. The league was expected to end talks around 10 p.m. (CST) without a vote on the NFL Players Association's latest proposal. Joe Brown, NFL executive vice president of communications, said that vote now will occur at some point Wednesday, March 8, after the two sides resume talks here early in the morning. "We're moving along," Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said during a short recess from the meetings Tuesday night. "But it wouldn't be right to discuss everything that Paul (Tagliabue) has said here today." New York Giants executive vice president Steve Tisch said Tagliabue has been rather blunt in getting his points across. The biggest holdup continues to be the difference in revenue allocation to the players and revenue sharing among the owners. The players have wanted 60 percent of the league's revenue, but recently lowered their proposal to 59.5 percent. The owners have not changed their initial offer of 56.2 percent
It is one thing if they are going anywhere but they haven't moved, the players and owners are still far apart and the owners aren't even agreeing with each other
Fuck that... Im freaking pissed off if it happens...we the fans are the league...we make the NFL run.
It depends on who you believe. A lot of people say the problem is not getting the players and owners to agree its getting the owners to agree between themselves about revenue sharing. The big teams can afford to make a deal with the players but the lesser revenue teams cannot. also involved is minimum spending limits and limiting the amount of bonuses that can be given where a team like the Redskins can spend a huge amount in one year and amortize over many of years of the cap. Something that many small teams cannot do. Until the owners can reconcile their differences about revenue sharing it will be hard to get agreement between labor and management. A lot of people are also very critical of the union. Saying that they are to soft and to easily rubber stamp anything Tagliabue wants. The NFL is the richest and most popular American sport. The players have the shortest career span and the incur the most serious injuries. But they are the only the sport without guaranteed contracts. If the Union had any spine or backbone they would be going after guaranteed contracts to protect their players. Yes they don't have much bargaining power but they would almost certainly be better off if they followed through with their plan to decertify after 2007 preventing owners from being to lock them out in 2008 and playing without any CBA and salary cap. The players would almost certainly be better off this way but the sport would almost certainly not be. It would be pure chaos, no draft, no salary cap and free agency for all not under contract. Jerry Jones, Daniel Snyders, and many agents dream.
NFL | Labor deal specifics; free agency to start Thursday or Friday Tue, 7 Mar 2006 20:52:29 -0800 ESPN.com's John Clayton reports a few provisions of the new NFL labor deal include: 1) Teams will be able to use their franchise tag on a player more than once, but if they franchise a player for a third time, they will have to do it at a salary equivalent to that of a top-five quarterback, the highest-paid position in football. 2) Contracts for players selected in rounds two through seven of the NFL Draft will be limited to four years in length. More and more teams have been trying to lock second-day draft choices into five-year contracts that prevent the player from hitting restricted free agency after year three and unrestricted free agency after year four. 3) Bonuses in contracts will be pro-rated over five years this year and over six years in 2007, but in 2008 the pro-ration reverts to five years. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue made it clear that at this point there is no more negotiating with the union. If the owners accept the proposal before 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, March 8, free agency will start at 12:01 a.m. Friday, March 10. If there is no acceptance, free agency will start Thursday, March 9, as scheduled.
no, absolutely positively not, that would make it way too complicated and makes absolutely no sense at all
What is the point of setting deadlines if nobody meets them? That is just stupid. If they're going to just have meetings till its settled, then stop telling everybody that there is a deadline, and just announce when a deal is reached.
Relax jets fans. The only way it gets pushed back is if the ownership agrees to the deal, then it is pushed back while the ownership begins to set rosters based on the new cap. If a deal is not done, then they will not push it back. So you should hope for a push back
I'm pretty sure that arbitrators are only used for jobs where it is illegal to strike, like cops, teachers, etc. The players have the right to strike, and the owners have the right to lock them out so there is no binding arbitration.
I don't think I want to see a deal done yet. It's going to be good to see Indy and Washington squirm. Particularly the latter since I'm unsure how the Manning/Harrison restructures affect the Colts.
