The NFL Players Association’s rank and file will be voting on the proposed labor deal, which has resulted from months of negotiation between the league and union, even if the NFLPA’s board of player representatives fails to recommend it.
Dan Graziano of ESPN.com reports that the pending CBA proposal will go to the full membership even if fewer than two-thirds of the board of player representatives vote for it. PFT has confirmed that this will happen. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, a strict reading of the union constitution permits it.
It may be a challenge to get the full membership to approve a deal that the board of player representatives fails to recommend. Then again, it only takes 50 percent plus one of the dues-paying members (roughly 1,900) to approve the deal. And far more of those players fall within the category that will benefit from the immediate growth of minimum salaries by $90,000 per year.
Either way, the board of player representatives must vote before the full membership can vote. And it sounds like the full membership will vote even if the upcoming vote of the board of player representatives results in a 32-0 landslide against the new CBA.