The current Collective Bargaining Agreement always has removed the salary cap in the last year, with a goal of creating a incentive to get a new deal done at least one year before the contract expires. In past years, it was believed that the owners would want to get a new deal done before the launch of the uncapped year, since it could spark a bidding war for free agents that would eat into the profits of the teams who participate.
As the uncapped year inches closer, however, a perception has emerged that the NFL has no problem with an uncapped year -- especially since there also will be no salary floor. The best evidence? Fewer and fewer teams are now spending up to the per-team limit. Thus, fewer and fewer teams will be inclined to spend more than the rules permit in a capped year.
So it appears that, as far as the league is concerned, midnight comes upon expiration of the deal, after the April 2011 draft.
In contrast, the players are beginning to realize that the uncapped year, which had been sold to them as an exercise in Pacman-style rainmaking, will benefit only a small handful of superstars -- and that many of them will see current contracts scrapped, with much lower replacement offers put in their place.
And so NFLPA Executive Director De Smith, in a Tuesday conference call with reporters, made it clear that the union thinks midnight comes at the start of the uncapped year.
"If we don't have a deal by mid-January [2010], it seems to me the right thing to do at that point is to commit ourselves, both the union and the NFL, to five days of concentrated meetings where we promise ourselves that we will emerge with a deal," Smith said, per Liz Mulen of SportsBusiness Daily. "I am against any lockout. I would love to have a deal before the uncapped year."
This position, frankly, gives a ton of leverage to the league. Since the owners are willing to take an uncapped year, an effort by the union to get a deal done before March 2010 will require greater concessions to be made, because the league feels no urgency to work out a new deal before the salary cap -- and the salary floor -- disappear.
So, basically, the league will have a full year to load up the war chest for a work stoppage by spending less money, and the players will have less money to stuff in the mattresses in advance of an extended period in 2011 with no income.
The league now knows that the players want to avoid that. And the league will take full advantage of what is, in many respects, a soft cry of "uncle" from the guy who runs the union.
This is a warning to the NFL and all football fans.
De Smith, the NFL players union exec, is well connected. He comes from the Obama union friendly camp (was part of Obama's transition team) which has pulled every trick in the book to advance a union dominated workforce.
When thing get to a critical stage, expect De Smith to call in a lot of external sources (including other unions) to strong arm the owners.
I also predict the White House to be in his corner also.
It is coming.
Just my opinion, but I think several teams are looking forward to the uncapped year. A year to get players to contribute without worrying about the ones who are long gone but are still hitting the books and taking up cap space looks good to a team trying to rebuild from past screw ups in personnel decision-making.
Let's just hope that Rodger Goodell and his dream to put a team in England doesn't happen. They may try to lure as much talent as the big spenders like JJ and Dan Snyder!
Let's just hope that Rodger Goodell and his dream to put a team in England doesn't happen. They may try to lure as much talent as the big spenders like JJ and Dan Snyder!
"I am against any lockout. I would love to have a deal before the uncapped year."
De Smith said as he wiped sweat from his twitching brow with an already soaked handkerchief.
Public posturing or a blink?
DeSmith is going to have to use any connection he has, guy just comes off as being in over his head.
Don't see him lasting long after a new agreement, if that long. He already is worried.
Unfortunately these guys have been sold a bill of goods by a new labor leadership and they are about to learn the hard way there isn't as much money at play as they thought. By the time Obama and the Congressional Black Congress throw their Gangster Government weight around they'll be even more impotent and less able to extort the owners. They ain't Chrysler Bond Holders and Obama won't be "The One" by then.
Yeah maybe he'll get Wonderboy to declare the league unconstitutional and try to get it placed under governmental control. After all that's the answer to every question right ???
to dennypat; don't bring that political crap in here, keep it to football and leave the politics and conspiracy theories at foxnews. Thanks
Sure he wants the deal.
An uncapped year means every team in the NFL can cut it's overpaid busts and not suffer a competitive disadvantage (cap hit).
Some will take offers of a reduced salary to avoid being cut.
Every team will want to do it again every few years.
Unions are a thing of the past and this union has the wrong dinglefritz in charge. The soft years of Tagliabue are over.
time to unelect that bastard
I fully agree with red13's assessment; if we go into an uncapped situation, it'll be strikingly similar to the situation in MLB, which is a joke. All the spoils will go to the large market teams and the smaller market teams, barring exceptional drafting will be left by the wayside.
This system rewards the incompetents (Dan Snyder, Jerry Jones, Al Davis) with little to no evaluation skills but fat pocketbooks. The crappy economy may keep them in check, but not relative to the smaller market teams. Parity will never return if we get into an uncapped situation. The NFL is so great because of the level playing field. That's why baseball is such a joke. With rare exceptions, it's the Yankees versus some major market National League team every frickin' year! Look at the Pirates and Royals organizations.
We have economic deflation. Prices are lowering across the board. Expect players salaries to drop, and then, after that, NFL ticket prices.
This is a painful process for everyone, but thanks to the great people we have in Washington (of both parties), it's what we have.
The NFL Players Union should not be asking for the moon.
Don't the NFL owners want an uncapped year to jettison lots of rookie contracts they no longer want to pay? Isn't that one of their motivations?
and... dennypat... eat crap.
osamabama couldnt get elected dogcatcher right now.
everything he does is unconstitutional and wont hold.
he isnt even a citizen here. he was installed.
quit worshipping that jackass.
watch the 09 elections next week.
de knows he is going to get canned.
the owners by and large didnt vote for the chosen one and would just as soon get new players.
Another "Putz" running the NFLPA to the detriment of it's members.
Upshaw was in the pockets of management at 2mil. per year and this new guy is completely intimidated by them already. To the fans, don't fret, the Union will take whats offered!!!!
I don't think it hurts the union that much to say they want a deal sooner than later. The owners would play hard ball with the uncapped year whether DeSmith acknowledges that want or not.
I think what that does is make him appear more reasonable in the fan's eyes and the league has also seen what damage lockouts and short seasons have caused to other leagues. It will cost them more to have a stoppage than it will gain them in all probability.
The best thing for everyone is a new deal in place before the uncapped year.
Packersteve is a liberal scag.
you want Union Leverage? I'll give you Union Leverage, don't laugh, it's called the UFL, how many rich guys would want to own a team with REAL NFL talent for a fraction of the NFL price?, maybe the UFL will run a franchise sale, and they'll have a massive kickoff party where they redraft EVERY "locked out" player in what was the former NFL
How many NFL owners are going to let the real draw walk down the road, they remember the replacement player season, do you??
NFL owners have BILLIONS, that's thousands of Millions invested in the color and logo on the Jersey, without the talent IN the Jersey, they can't sell SHIT.. or pay their bleeping bills
you thought the UFL just came along? me thinks they're playing the angle and crossing their fingers they catch the NFL getting greedy
tim
section128drunk ,
Dude, are you serious? The UFL is a developmental league for the NFL since Europa died. The schedule is set up around the NFL schedule so players can be signed into the NFL in November for the playoff push. Sheesh...
slipkid says: October 27, 2009 9:35 PM
and... dennypat... eat crap.
osamabama couldnt get elected dogcatcher right now.
everything he does is unconstitutional and wont hold.
--------------------------------------
Can't you folks have a political discussion without implying things about Obama's ancestry? It's just as apish as the liberals who can't talk about Our Leader without referring to his grades in college, or his alcoholism.
And given that Obama's approval ratings are still well above 50%, something tells me that your comments about his inability to win an election, your claims about his supposed unconstitutional actions, and your perpetuation of long-disproved rumors stem from a vast and likely willful ignorance.
Can you tell me exactly what Obama's done that's unconstitutional, and why? Every president for the last fifty years has his own long, long list of unconstitutional actions. What makes Obama's so exceptional? Because he's from that sector of the political spectrum that makes you see red?
Be my guest if you want to play the "blame everything on the 'other' party" game. It's just about all our citizenry is intellectually capable of.
Personally, the way the owners have treated fans lately, I'd be happy if the union got the best of them. And it would be great to see more businessmen prioritize the long term health of their industry over short-term monetary gain. Because, believe it or not, that's actually better for business, and better for fans: parity is critical to the NFL's continued success.
How did a forum about NFL salaries turn into windbags bloviating about politics. Most who have a political opinion here know about as much about politics as politicians know about football.
There's a reason teams, players, announcers, analysts and everyone else whose a part of the production of NFL keeps their political opinions to themselves. It ruins the fun.
And it's not just this thread. The Obama haters and Limbaugh haters are a growing cancer in this otherwise sometimes informative and sometimes amusing sports website.
Please people: Use a little self restraint and keep your political opinions out of ProFootballTalk.com. You all sound like a bunch of whiny blowhards. If you want to spout off about politics, it's a free country with a lot of other forums where Righties and Lefties get their flame on 24/7. Go find a different site!
To all of you ObamaHaters on this site:
1) This is a SPORTS site, not a political one
2) You lost the election, and bigtime, I might add. Get over it. Obama is YOUR president, whether you like it or not.
3) In 2012, try presenting to the nation's electorate, coherent, intelligent ideas for making our country better. Since you failed to do this, you lost the presidency( and the House; and the Senate)
You lost the election. Get over it.............
Hey slipkid save it for your fox news buddies. You're an asshat birther nut job with no brains. You disgrace the title of a great Who song - damn, the only thing worse than a wingnut is a stupid wingnut. Are you really that brainless that you use your head slop to connect Obama to the NFL labor dispute? Calling to un-elect the President of the United States because you watch too much Fox? Good grief.
Section128drunk -- Most players have a clause in their contracts saying that they cannot play other sports, or engage in activities that could possibly harm them. Playing for the UFL would kill their NFL career.
The NFL just received all the leverage in this, and to be quite honest, the NFLPA didn't really have any to begin with. Losing the CBA would only hurt the players, and strengthen the owners. The owners know that they could just go with other people who are willing to play for several hundred thousand dollars and we'd still watch it...because we're football fans, and that's what we do.
The players need to, if they haven't already, realize that they are being paid an extreme amount of money to play a game that when you really look at it...is quite ridiculous. I'm sure the league would have no problem advising them to find jobs in the real world that pay that much money to a kind who may or may not have a degree in underwater basket weaving. FYI, I watch the UFL, because I love football, if there is a lockout, and the league rolls with sub-par talent...then fantatsic, because I'm a NINER fan, and that means that I'll root for any player on that team...whether they're scrubs or not.
LOL rjaxx, actually I'm an idependent and a fiscal conservative with a brain. I'm more concerned about whats right and not who is right. Just because I dont't tow your party's line doesn't mean that I'm a "liberal scag", I look for the actual solution rather than just blurt out "you're wrong, you suck, insert another slanderous remark". Both party's do it, both party's are petty and so are the people who follow their platforms blindly.
The UFL was created as, basically, a lottery ticket. It was started up for peanuts. But if the NFL goes uncapped, and two teams are moving to L.A. and one to England, the NFL will soon become a little less unattractive. If all three teams fail, as is VERY probable, the NFL could falter in they eyes of the fans. Hello UFL. You might even have some teams defect there in the next 10 years if all of Goodell's visions come to fruition.
Packersteve...my comment was mainly aimed at you because I'm assuming your a packer fan and i despise them. lol. plus i was just joking around because i think alot of the guys that post here take themselves way too serious. Have a good one!