While the final hours of the collective bargaining agreement ticked down a week and a half ago, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was at a previously planned trade mission to Israel with the Massachusetts Governor and other business leaders.
Kraft got his updates over the phone. In the end, we don’t think it’s a huge deal that one member of the league’s executive committee wasn’t able to attend the talks.
One of Kraft’s employees, however, admitted he was disappointed when asked about it by Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe.
“No doubt, 100 percent. I’m not going to lie to you,” left tackle Matt Light said.
One of the common complaints from the players involves the lack of owner attendance at the mediated sessions. It’s a fair point and one of the strongest arguments in the player’s favor.
“Look, again, like [Mike] Vrabel stated, like everyone else has said, we had people in that room that could get a deal done at any point. Do I know how they’re structured within the league? No, I have no clue.
“But I can tell you one thing: they [league negotiators] didn’t seem to have the ability to do any of that when they had to the leave the room, make a phone call, you guys representing the league. If it was men, I was in that model, I would have every one of my guys in those seats making sure that we had one voice and we could get a deal done,” Light said.
The big questions now: When will the two sides truly start to negotiate again? And who will be the new voices?