https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28906786/nfl-players-approve-new-cba-2030 NFL players voted to approve a new collective bargaining agreement with the league's owners -- sources told ESPN -- ensuring NFL labor peace through at least 2030 and clearing the way for a 17-game regular season as early as 2021. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the vote to approve was close, at 1019-959. Approval required a majority of the players voting. The 10-day voting period during which any player who paid NFLPA dues during the past calendar year was eligible to vote concluded at 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Prior to the voting, the NFLPA estimated that roughly 2,500 players were eligible to vote. The league's owners voted in February to approve the deal, so the players' approval was all that remained in order to secure it. The new CBA will allow the NFL to expand its regular season from 16 to 17 games as early as 2021 and expand the playoff field from 12 teams to 14 beginning as soon as the 2020 season. It also includes higher minimum salaries, improvements to benefits for current and former players, expanded rosters and practice squads and changes to the league's drug and discipline policies, all of which will go into effect in 2020. The deal would increase the players' share of league revenue from 47% to 48% in 2021 and to at least 48.5% in any season in which 17 regular-season games are played. Several high-profile players, including Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and J.J. Watt, had publicly expressed their disapproval of the deal, which encountered several hiccups en route to player approval. After the owners voted Feb. 20 to approve the terms of the deal they'd been negotiating with players since last April, the union's board of player representatives was scheduled to vote via conference call the following day. But shortly before that vote was to take place, the NFLPA executive council surprisingly voted 6-5 to not recommend the deal. The ensuing player rep conference call resulted not in a vote but in a decision to petition the owners for further concessions. Owners agreed to meet with the players at the scouting combine in Indianapolis on Feb. 25, and during that meeting some minor concessions were made but the structure of the deal remained the same. Shortly after midnight that night, the board of player reps voted 17-14 with one abstention to send the deal to the full membership for approval. The following week, attorneys for the players and for the league met in Washington, D.C. to hammer out the full, 456-page document outlining the new CBA. That work was completed early in the morning of March 5, and the union announced that voting would begin at 9 a.m. ET that day and run through 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 12. This past week, the player reps gathered in South Florida for their annual meeting and had a contentious discussion about the new deal, the 17-game season and the manner in which the deal was negotiated. At that meeting, the players agreed to extend the voting window by two days, but a resolution that would have allowed players who'd already voted to change their votes was rejected. Panthers offensive tackle Russell Okung, a former executive council member and a vocal opponent of the deal and of NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, filed an unfair labor practices charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Smith illegally negotiated the deal and impeded debate on the issue. That complaint is still pending. In the meantime, though, the NFL has a deal in place between the players and the owners that runs through 2030. The owners can get to work on negotiating new deals with their TV network partners. And while there remains a chance the start of the 2020 league year could be postponed due to coronavirus concerns, at this writing it remains scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, with the "legal tampering" window set to open at noon ET on Monday.
Under the proposed CBA, the NFL will increase the season to 17 games (from 16) and the addition of an extra team to the playoffs in each conference. The 14-team playoff would have the top seed earning a first-round bye while seeds No. 2 through No. 7 would play on Wild-Card Weekend. The expanded playoff is expected to begin in 2020. The active game day roster will expand from 46 to 48 players as practice squads will expand from 10 to 12 players in 2020. That number will increase to 14 players starting in 2022 (including between two and four players with unlimited accrued seasons per team). Also starting in 2021, the annual player revenue will increase from 47 to a minimum of 48% which can go as high to 48.8% with a "media kicker" from the new television deal.
Really hope a sub-.500 team wins the Super Bowl ASAP to embarrass the league for going to 7 playoff teams.
"Labor peace"... more or less. Just a 60 vote difference. Have to wonder how the events of the past week might have influenced the players. I guess a "bird in the hand" and all that. Some notable components: 17 game season - to start sometime from 2021-2023 Increase in minimum salaries Increase in practice squad size Decriminalization of marijuana
I wonder what dictates whichyear the 17 game season starts. Probably has to do with stadium scheduling and tv deals but I would like to know the details.
Just another shining example of what little power the players/NFLPA have compared to the league/owners. Far from overwhelming support for these changes.
They only have a 3 years gap to get it done so I'm going to guess they will try it as soon as possible to test it and see if it works out.
Um, voter turnout is close to 80% in this vote. The American population voter turnout has been under 60% over the last couple elections. More democratic then our government apparently.
Ummm, there's only roughly 2,500 players in the NFLPA. 500 of those players didn't cast votes. The vote was decided by only 60 votes so clearly those other votes would've factored in heavily to the outcome. Hardly democratic. Furthermore, comparing the percentage of voters of a closed organization of 2,500 people to the percentage of voters of a public national election of 50+ million potential voters is hardly equivalent.
With 16 games teams have 8 home and 8 away. Now there's an extra game. Will it be home or away? Europe maybe?
I'm not a fan of 17 games. Single season records are going to start to get broken every year now while passing up some of the All-Time legends. All new school players will break single season records due to an extra game while our throwback players and old timers records become a thing of the past. I do not like that thought. And 7 playoff teams per conference is overkill. That's 14 teams combined. Damn near almost 50% of the teams within the league will make the playoffs now. It's becoming a charity event where almost everyone wins just for participating. I absolutely hate the 17 game season which will destroy previous records set and i really dislike including another two playoff teams, who in previous years; was non deserving. There are enough regular season injuries as is during the regular season. There are already enough watered down games towards the end of the season as is. 17 games will make both accounts worse.
I’m thinking a year by year rotation to determine home field and as far as the opponent maybe that rotates also. I was thinking the team that finishes is the same place from another division in the opposite conference. For instance in the Jets case if the new 17 game schedule were this year they would be playing the Giants. Opposite conference same division ( less travel ). Every four years when the Jets play the NFC East as the rotation dictates they would play that one team twice.
14 playoff teams is a bit of an overkill.....but more games equals more money. I believe the NHL and NBA have about a 50% playoff chance....
The #2 seed gets screwed. Although, they should be able to beat the #7 seed in their conference. Huge edge to the #1 seed going forward. If the Patriots played in this format the last 20 years, they may have 10-12 Super Bowl rings.
I don't consider myself an OCD type, but the current scheduling format has an undeniably beautiful symmetry. own division opponents home and home one full intra-conference division out-of-conference teams of same standing from prior year. It's perfect. And... out the window. It's like a gorgeous woman getting a bad facial piercing.
In the NHL, the standings usually are relatively tight and the playoffs are full of upsets. In the NBA it's a joke. This particular regular season has been over since the virus was still a Chinese secret.
greed greed greed. it will be what eventually kills the nfl. so much talk about health and protecting guys and then you add a game. and an extra playoff game or 2. i wonder if goody still has his unencumbered power to put people out of work who havent been found guilty of anything. i hope okung gets his day and wins. the union leadership is a joke and the players really just got it stuck up their ass for another decade. at some point they really need to get together and get some power back from the owners. the nba guys are laughing at them every step of the way.
