The NFL Labor Agreement Is All But Done In Principle

by Scipio Tex on Jul 15, 2011 12:26 PM CDT in Texas Longhorns and Other Football

I was optimistic that the season wouldn't be affected when the owners won the last round of court decisions, for reasons I outlined here.

Though some report - and this is hotly debated - that the deadlock was broken when players revealed that they had a secret $200,000 per man insurance fund to get them through missing 2011 paychecks. That crucial owner leverage negated, any chances of breaking the players completely went off the table and The Man began feeling rather amenable:

It's one of the reasons that slightly more than a year ago he received approval from the executive committee to secure insurance that would pay each player roughly $200,000 if there were no football in 2011. Smith disclosed the fund to only a handful of people outside of the executive committee. However with negotiations seemingly at a standstill late Wednesday night, the decision was made to play one of their aces in the hole. So in the relative quiet of the sides' New York City bargaining room the next morning, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth informed the owners of the previously secret lockout fund.

If true, DeMaurice Smith executed a master stroke by convincing the players to steel the soft underbelly of their bargaining position over a year ago. Keep your eye on Mr. Smith. I expect we've not seen the last of him on the public stage.

If you follow this SBNation newsfeed, it's apparent that the deal is all but done. The revenue pie has been split in principle and this is the central issue. Lawyers will be pouring over documents this weekend and, barring last moment language battles, we might see this all wrapped up and put to vote by week's end.

Expect the players to end up with just under 50% of the revenue pie, a vastly altered rookie pay scale, and increased veteran benefits.

Unfortunately, we may see the NFL regular season expanded to 18 games from 16 as a means of growing the pie and I think that's terrible news for the game, fans, player health, and the overall quality of the product.

Tweet Comment 15 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I’m not a fan of the band Boston (OK, maybe I would like to hear LHB play an arrangement of this intro), but this story reminds me of Tom Scholz. Epic was trying to get him to sign a lousy contract and their standard policy was to delay. Starving musicians usually come around, right?

But Scholz, an MIT graduate, was making decent money off of his electronics patents, enough to wait them out and get a better deal.

Sorry, return to sports talk in three … two … one …

by spider on Jul 15, 2011 12:59 PM CDT reply actions

200k per player was the ace in the hole?.. Are we talking 200k per week? Yeah, 200k would get me through the year, but I thought the reason a lockout would hurt the players so much is because so many were living paycheck to paycheck, and many (most?) of them would make that 200k in 3 weeks tops.

by ut-06 on Jul 15, 2011 1:27 PM CDT reply actions

from the SB newsfeed: “it seems that the owners realized that ultimately, they were ones who most needed the 2011 season to happen.”

What does each side learn from this moving forward and how will it affect posturing around future standoffs? If a mere $200k is enough to avert a league of players from scattering, owners may not have just lost this battle, but lost the war. Perhaps in the future owners will attempt to call a bluff, but it doesn’t change the fundamental fact that owners are still the ones who stand to lose the most.

by triplehorn on Jul 15, 2011 1:37 PM CDT reply actions

/schedules fantasy league draft.

Our long national nightmare is over!

by Vasherized on Jul 15, 2011 1:48 PM CDT reply actions

Another key element that the two sides in the NFL acknowledged from the start was that money was being made by both sides, and there was even more to be made — they were arguing over the spoils.

Unfortunately, we may see the NFL regular season expanded to 18 games from 16 as a means of growing the pie and I think that’s terrible news for the game, fans, player health, and the overall quality of the product.

First up is another TV package. The NFL already has begun negotiating with TV networks concerning a new Thursday-night football package, that would kick in as soon as the 2012 season. The deal could be worth as much as $700 million and would cover eight early-season NFL games, with the NFL Network retaining the rights to eight games later in the season.

ESPN, Spike TV, Comcast and Turner are all expected to show interest in purchasing the package. An interesting aspect of this negotiation is that the NFL will take away the games from its current network partners, who will probably then demand a rebate on their current contracts.

by srr50 on Jul 15, 2011 1:49 PM CDT reply actions

The owners were the ones that stood to be slaughtered financially if the players could weather the lost season. No revenues, stadium mortgages to pay, vendor contracts, etc.

by Bateshorn on Jul 15, 2011 3:06 PM CDT reply actions

It’s extremely difficult for me to believe that a whole league full of players could keep a $200K insurance policy quiet. These young men repeatedly show poor judgment and getting lockstep secrecy from them sounds impossible and unlikely.

by Matt Cotcher on Jul 15, 2011 3:43 PM CDT reply actions

Matt,

According to the story the whole league didn’t know until this week. Only a few people were told prior to that.

by Huckleberry on Jul 15, 2011 3:49 PM CDT reply actions

Which is why Colt McCoy is working at a car dealership.

The real question is why some insurance underwriter at Lloyds of London didn’t leak this information 6 months ago. Looks like they’re about to make a tidy profit on what could have been a fairly significant payout.

by roach on Jul 15, 2011 4:03 PM CDT reply actions

Huck is exactly right. Only DeMaurice, a couple of his shysters, and a handful of players like Brees knew of this. They purposely kept it from the players.

by Scipio Tex on Jul 15, 2011 4:19 PM CDT reply actions

That is hilarious.

by Sailor Ripley on Jul 15, 2011 4:53 PM CDT reply actions

16 games is too many. 18 is a joke. Careers will be further shortened and the quality of play deteriorate further. The greed of those running the NFL is impressive.

by hopefulhorn on Jul 15, 2011 8:55 PM CDT reply actions

Funny you write that, hopeful – I’ve always thought 14 game schedules were ideal. If 18, I seriously wonder if coaches will just give certain guys off weeks during the course of the year, like catchers in baseball.

Similarly, imagine if a team opens up a sizable division lead late in the year. If you thought Game 16s were ugly while teams rest for the playoffs, wait until you see Games 15-18 potentially laid up.

Similarly, can you imagine how useless it will be to brag about being a 1,000 yard rusher or receiver? That’s 55 yards per game.

It’s like moving the NBA season from 82 games to 92. Or MLB from 162 to 182. What a grind.

by Scipio Tex on Jul 15, 2011 9:40 PM CDT reply actions

It also separates further the weight of division games on the overall race for a division title. When there was a 14 game season and 4 division opponents (8 games), it was much more important versus a scenario of 6 division games (now) out of the proposed 18. Drastically out of line IMO.

by lonesome devil on Jul 16, 2011 10:48 AM CDT reply actions