After the NFL moved to postpone the Week 15 game between the Raiders and Browns to Monday due to the COVID-19 outbreak on the Browns’ roster, several members of the Raiders expressed their displeasure with the decision and wondered if the decision was made because Browns center JC Tretter had undue influence due to being NFLPA president.
Raiders linebacker K.J. Wright was one of those players and he argued that the Browns should “play or forfeit” as scheduled. On Wednesday, Tretter answered some of those comments.
Tretter told reporters that the NFL wanted to cancel the games and noted that none of the players from affected teams would have been paid for the week if that were the case. He said that issue, rather than anything having to do with competitive balance, drove the NFLPA’s push to move the game against the Raiders (as well as the two games played on Tuesday) to later dates.
“I was fighting for the same things for the Raiders players I was for the Browns players: to make sure everybody gets paid,” Tretter said, via Zac Jackson of TheAthletic.com. “I don’t think people realize how close those games were to being canceled.”
It’s not clear if Raiders players realized they would have missed out on a paycheck in the event of a forfeit or cancellation, but they wound up with a win while also getting paid for their week’s work as a result of the postponement.