The union is trying to force a ruling that based on the new CBA, there can be no litigation or punishment for acts prior to 2011. Which means that the penalties for the Saints bounty are also invalid.

And if the union agreed to it before 2010 in writing, and after 2010 in writing, they shouldn’t be shocked to find out that owners were doing it with a smirk and a wink in 2010.

Yet if the owners, in their contract negotiations with the players, hid the fact that there was silent collusion in 2010 while promising the players a fully uncapped year, then the union signed the waiver under a “mistake of fact” ( saying it nicely ) or a “fraud” ( saying it more accurately ) and a federal court might very well find that the waiver was null and void.

You suck to the point that I had to give up my goal of being sports agent. The thought of working with you was so vile that I actually gave up a lifelong dream. Thanks, D-bag.

Sincerely,
Jetropolitan

Don’t blame Mara. That’s like blaming Shockey for the bountygate scandal. Blame the owners who colluded and stole money from the players.

Luckily even if it’s determined that the owners colluded, they’ll just have to pay up. The current CBA guarantees that the games will be played for nine more years.

FYI — Mara did an interview with ESPN where he revealed the secret caps existence. The union even used quotes from the interview in their court papers.

Of course we are going to blame Mara … his mouth might have just blown up the labor peace.

The NFL has in the wrong if it does and it if it doesnt. If they had allowed teams to freely dump bad contracts without any penalty what so ever, players would have been upset without that as well. And they probably would have claimed collusion when those overpaid players didn’t pull equal or greater contracts during free agency.

Was it really so simple…

Goodell: So we want to penalize two teams and redistribute the salary cap to all other teams.

Smith: How will this help me, why would I agree?

Goodell: It will allow you to claim the cap has gone up when in fact it hasn’t. Because the cap has just been redistributed.

Smith: Sounds good, lets do it.

If Mara hadn’t pushed for the penalty on the Skins and Boys then the NFLPA wouldn’t have the ammo needed to pursue this claim. While this may get shot down early based on the NFLPA’s ability to pursue claims under the new CBA, the NFL still put themselves at risk for a potential collusion claim…and for what? To stick it to 2 teams? Not very well thought out by the league.
_________________

The Redskins and Cowboys cheated. If someone steals from you it’s not wise to allow them to get away with it, regardless of the circumstances.

May be the Union could likewise sue the NFL for not negotiating in good faith…

Didn’t the NFL set up an uncapped year to provide incentive for a negotiation and renewal of the CBA. If the NFL never intended to really have an uncapped year. Then they did not negotiate the previous CBA in good faith.

Your comment is not incorrect – I am just pointing out that no one is clean in this mess but I tend to think the Union has more of the high ground on this issue, even if they gave their right to sue away, they were totally decieved by the owners.

Doesn’t that really say everything we need to know?

Doty, who they want to hear the case, seems disinterested and apparantly hasn’t even looked at the petition yet. My guess is that he’s sick of the NFLPA and wants to retire in peace. In response, DeSmith makes as big of a public mess as he can to pressure the judge.

There is no lawsuit at this point and the court hasn’t ruled on his petition yet but he’s submitting court documents requesting evidence and telling the agents what they have to do.

It seems like one large publicity stunt to justify his job. Something to show the players that he is fighting for them. A distraction.

In the end, it’s just more billable hours for Smith and his partners.

Please NFLPA, leave the game alone: go deposit your checks and enjoy life. If you leave the NFL after only 1 yea becaus eyou got beat out by someone else, or injured, then please use the degree that the NFL wanted you to have before you entered the league.

This is mind boggling. They had an agreement that the NFLPA could not, and would not sue for any reason, and of course less than 1 year later DeMoron Smith is rackin up attorney bills for his buddies in ridiculous lawsuits which they’ve clearly already waived their right to sue.