Here are some more things to know about this labor situation -

DeMaurice Smith is a fool.
Kevin Mawae has proven the players are frauds.
Realworld economics is on the side of the owners.
There is no such thing as a sports labor issue that happens because the owners are wrong about their league’s finances.

Sign the new CBA and get back to football.

anthonyfromstatenisland, by the time that preseason starts, most coaches already have a pretty good idea as to what players are going to make the team and by the end of the second game, they’re not releasing anyone that they wouldn’t end up releasing after the fourth game.

Oh, if only that were true!! I grew up in a Bama household and fell in love with the Steelers almost 34 years ago, so smashmouth football is my thing. Great defense, great running games. But this has become a QB-driven league and what we see most often is that teams without a top-flight QB can’t compete. And I watched Pittsburgh field great defenses, great o-lines, great running games, receivers, and special teams for the better part of 21 years and fall short until Roethlisberger became heir-apparent to Bradshaw.

People use the Dilfer example, but let’s be real: Trent was a good journeyman QB. And that was nearly a dozen years ago. How many other examples can you name of teams winning the Super Bowl without a franchise QB? Besides, we’re not just talking about QB talent. How many great centers and tackles are coming out of the NCAA these days?

Yes, the game will adapt to the talent. But I don’t want to see watered-down football because league greed has led the NFL to expand beyond what’s available.

I would love another extension as long as they keep making more progress towards a deal. I think that the closer it runs to the start of the season the more likely one or both parties will have to “give in” and that will again be a situation down the line where there will be acrimony because one side feels “jobbed”. Better to get a deal done now when fewer peoples’ lives are being affected by it which creates less pressure and desperation and both can get certain concessions and a more FAIR deal.

“How can the league keep expanding when more than half the current teams can’t find QBs capable of competing at an elite level?”

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When Trent Dilfer won a SB ring as the starting QB it pretty much negated any relevance stemming from that question.

In fact, expanding would only add to the current versatility of the NFL. You’d have more teams relying on defense and the ground game. Which means teams like the Colts who throw all their money at a couple key offensive stars(Manning) would be rivaled by teams who throw a bunch of money at some defensive stars meant to shut out the Mannings of the world.

Football is a team game, and the more you can highlight that fact, the better the games get. And as much as this is a “QB league” now, defense still matters(See: Houston Texans and Schaub, Matt).

I would love to see the league go lawless; no draft, no franchise tags, no restricted free agents.

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You must be a Yankees fan.

And it is interesting to note that since the last CBA was signed there has been both a 16-0 team (the ’07 Patriots) and an 0-16 team (the ’08 Lions) when there had never been either under previous CBAs; and there has also been a 7-9 team who made the playoffs (the ’10 Seahawks) and an 11-5 team that didn’t (the ’08 Patriots).

So clearly, competitive balance is out of whack in the NFL.

What seems to be forgotten in all of this is the plight of the poor owners. Judging by on-field results, many (most) of them are perfectly happy to continue to produce .500 or below seasons year-in and year-out. They just want to continue to make a lot of money doing it.

If you can’t seem to make money owning one of 32 franchises in the most successful sports league in the world, then sell it to someone who can.

Sorry, the balance of power in this argument is with the players. I don’t feel sorry for one owner. Not one.
By the way, a league without rules means this year’s Super Bowl champ within 10 years will have their franchise in some other city. As much as Green Bay is a shining star, it is based on revenue sharing. No revenue sharing, no Green Bay. You don’t care? Then you don’t care about the NFL.

I think it’s a nightmare that would ruin the NFL as we know it. And I happen to love the NFL as we know it.

It’s the only major professional sport where preseason predictions are practically useless. That’s what makes it fun and exciting for me.

I will never understand how a court system can force an NFL owner to give his business away because of some antiquated idea that the opressed player isn’t being treated fairly.

Like I said – How could you not want this?

7. There should be 18 games – and beyond merely reducing off-season contact, etc., every player under contract when it goes into effect should receive an automatic 12.5% base salary increase. But only one team should be added to the playoffs in each conference, not two – creating a situation under which only the 1 seed gets a first-round bye, the 2 seed does not get a first-round bye but is guaranteed home field in the second round providing they win their first-round game, while the 3 seed does not get home field in the second round unless they win and the 2 seed gets upset. This is a far more natural progression than the current format, under which the difference between being a 2 seed and a 3 seed is more crucial than the difference between being a 1 seed and a 2 seed, in that the 1 and 2 seeds get both a first-round bye and home field in the second round, while the 3 seed gets neither. 16 teams making the playoffs in a 32-team league dilutes the playoff field too much – but in the event of future expansion, it can be considered.

9. Salvatore Sollazzo – GOOGLE IT!

Talk about fair right? Just like how teams that have to pick #1 overall is usually screwed especially when you have such a weak draft class where Gabbert, Newton, Fairley, etc. Guys who had 1 decent/good season can be considered #1 overall picks.
Honestly if any of those top 10 guys came out any other year with deeper talents like last years draft, many of them would’ve been possible 3rd/4th round picks.

16/32 teams would make the playoffs. Great, now we can have .500 teams in the playoffs every year in addition to the 7-9 division winner from the NFC west. That’s what all fans want to see.

And I’m sure the 2010 fiscal responsibility of teams in an uncapped year had nothing to due to the likelihood that there will a new cap with a new CBA.

In suggesting the league consider “expansion, not relocation, by two teams in Los Angeles,” you meant expanding by two teams, not two in L.A., correct? How can the league keep expanding when more than half the current teams can’t find QBs capable of competing at an elite level?

Do you believe the NFL–an organization in many ways more bureaucratic and controlling than the federal government–would eliminate the Draft and let each team make its own rules?

When a team misses on a high pick, it kills them for years. Look how many teams try trading out of the top pick now because they don’t want to commit all that guaranteed money to an unproven player, unly to be stuck with the pick because other teams won’t take on the same risk. The Raiders might have dumped Jamarcus Russell earlier and turned the corner before this last season if they weren’t in the hole for all that money paid up front to Russell.

Imagine if you’re a fan of the Panthers — wouldn’t you rather see them parlay the top pick in this year’s draft for a slew of later picks in rounds 1 throug 3 to fill as many holes as possible, while possibly still getting a shot at Andrew Luck next year?

What about veterans? It can’t make some Pro Bowl player happy seeing some rookie come in and get a better deal before he even suits up to play, and that might cause dissension that makes those veterans want to shop for a new team.