My, how times have changed.
Four years ago, the threat of an uncapped year -- which was still a year into the future -- helped compel the NFL to agree to a labor deal that, little more than two years later, the owners wanted to scuttle. At the time, NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw vowed that, once the salary cap went away, it would never come back.
Today, with the first uncapped year since 1993 only 10 days away, the NFLPA wants to press pause until March 2011. Executive Director De Smith discloses in a memo sent to all players and agents today that the union’s most recent proposal to the NFL “contains an offer to continue the current capped system for an additional year which would allow the parties ample time to complete work on a long-term CBA.”
It’s a meaningless gesture. The league wants an uncapped year, in large part because the league knows the union doesn’t. And if the players and agents place enough pressure on the union between now and March 5, there’s a chance that the union will accept whatever the final offer is as of March 4.
We think the chances are slim. But, still, there’s a chance.
The memo is being rapidly and widely circulated; Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has posted the entire document.
Meanwhile, we’ll milk the thing for a few more posts.