Five days ago, the NFL and the NFL Players Association struck a deal on a revised Collective Bargaining Agreement, aimed at addressing various issues relevant to pro football in a pandemic. The formal agreement, however, has still not been signed.
So what’s the holdup? As one source with knowledge of the situation told PFT, “Lawyers.”
The good news is that this likely means the attorneys for the two sides are simply haggling over precise language, and that there’s been no buyer’s remorse or other issue that would undo the otherwise done deal.
The better news for players is that the deadline for opting out doesn’t arrive until seven days after the agreement is signed. As of now, it means that the earliest date on which players would face see the clock run out on opting out is Wednesday, August 5.
On Wednesday’s PFT Live, former NFL safety Rodney Harrison — a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame — said that, if he were still playing, he absolutely would skip the season. For every current player, it’s an intensely personal decision that only they can make, in consultation with their families.