Sure, coaches want more time with players. That’s been a common refrain from the moment that commanders-in-chief of 32 NFL franchises realized the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement sacrificed precious offseason workout time, training-camp two-a-days, and in-season padded practices.
When Jon Gruden returned to coaching after a nine-year break, he complained loudly and repeatedly about the rules limiting coaching access to players. Bill Belichick reportedly has made a similar case, at a time when owners are preparing to commence talks on a new labor deal.
But will it matter? With players determined to get more in the next round of CBA talks, they won’t be looking to give up the gains made in 2011. And they definitely won’t be giving up those gains without getting something significant in return.
With owners surely not inclined to make the concession(s) necessary to get players to agree to work longer and harder hours, Belichick’s plea could fall on deaf ears. If nothing else, the NFLPA has gotten an advance glimpse of what the owners may want. The players now need to figure out what they’d want, in return for giving the coaches what they want. (If the owners decide that they want it, too.)
The challenge for the players will be to figure out exactly what they want -- and to be surgical not scattershot in how those demands get communicated. This will be the first CBA negotiation during the era of full-blown social media, and the NFLPA will need to be strategic and measured when the time comes to send messages, to take positions, and to craft a desired outcome.
Fractures and divides on one side of the table can be exploited by the other side. For now, the NFLPA has a window into what could be a sharp difference of opinion between coaches and owners. Time will tell whether the NFLPA can avoid providing similar windows to the league.