OK, now this is getting ridiculous.
After a week of indicating a desire to return to the bargaining table, the NFL now has a clear chance to negotiate a new deal.
And the NFL is refusing to proceed.
Seriously.
Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal reports that the league will not negotiate with the lawyers representing the class action that has been filed against the NFL following decertification of the union.
Seriously.
The league reportedly wants to return to the bargaining table, and the league has no interest in engaging in settlement negotiations -- even though the settlement negotiations in the Reggie White case became in 1993 a settlement agreement that became the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
It’s a perplexing position for the league to take. At this point, the league should be pouncing on any chance to continue the talks, regardless of context or setting.
The easiest and fairest approach would be for the league and the class counsel to negotiate an agreement that allows the parties to negotiate a settlement in the same way they were bargaining via mediation. All that the league will have to do is agree not to use the format of the negotiations as proof that the decertification was a sham.
It’s really not that hard to skin this particular cat, if the two sides want to do it. Suddenly, we’re becoming convinced that the league doesn’t want to talk -- which means that the league must be feeling pretty damn good about its coming defense to the motion to lift the lockout.