The NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) have finalized a draft of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and voting on this new CBA bagan today. There are roughly 1,900 members in the players union, and they will have a week to vote on the new CBA, meaning the NFL will know if it has a new CBA in place by March 12. Majority rules in this vote and the stakes are high.
The headliner of this new CBA is the changes to the NFL Schedule. If the agreement is passed, the NFL season will increase the number of regular season games to 17 games (from 16). The agreement will also add an extra team to the playoffs in each conference. The 14-team playoff would have the top seed earning a first-round bye while seeds No. 2 through No. 7 would play on Wild-Card Weekend.
If the new CBA passes, the implementation of the expanded schedule could start as early as 2021, with the 14-team playoff taking effect as early as 2020. The expansion of the schedule would result in the preseason being reduced from four weeks to three, meaning that the fourth preseason week would become an extra bye week for the players.
Why would the NFL want to increase the number of games played? The answer is greed, and money talks. Getting this deal done will give the NFL security and leverage in its negotiations with broadcast partners this offseason. To get this deal done the NFL is dangling extra money over the players head. The minimum salary for rookies is expected to increase by $100,000 in 2020. Additionally, the NFL is willing to relax the league’s penalties on marijuana and put player discipline for off-field incidents in the hands of a neutral arbitrator rather than commissioner Roger Goodell, as incentives to get players to vote yes on the nre CBA.
“If ratified by the majority of players, a new deal would give them the highest percentage of revenues of any American professional sport, going to 48% and eventually could climb higher than 48.5% depending on media rights,” reported Adam Schefter. “That would mean more than $5 billion in new money to players.”
The new money that is promised to the players is a huge bargaining chip for the league to get this deal done. There are three types of players/contracts hierarchies for the NFL – Quarterbacks, max deals, veteran minimum/rookie deals. It goes without saying that starting quarterbacks make the most money in the NFL, next are superstars that get max deals and set the market for their position each year, then there are the rest of the people who fill out the 52 man roster that most casual fans never even heard of that receive minimum deals. Majority of players in the NFL are minimum deal players and they are affected by the new CBA the most, and because the majority rules those players are the swing vote. Clearly the league is not playing fair and the superstars are speaking out about their position of the new CBA.
“Hard no on that proposed CBA,” tweeted J.J Watt.
“Leadership!” responded Richard Sherman. “I am with you! Please communicate with your team rep.”https://twitter.com/JJWatt/status/1230663863529607178…
“The @NBA & @MLB are doing it right,” tweeted Russell Wilson. “Players come first. ALL @NFL players deserve the same. WE should not rush the next 10 YEARS for Today’s satisfaction. I VOTE NO.”
Pittsburgh Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey sent a video to TMZ stating that the Pouncey twins vote no. He also asked the veterans to stand up and help the young players with rent money if they need it.
If I had a vote in this matter, I would vote against the new CBA. The NFL has been preaching that they are all about player safety and making the game safer, but pushing an expanded schedule is contradictory to that mission. Increasing the number of games played will only increase the players’ exposure to injury. If the schedule is increased to 17 games what’s stopping the league from increasing it to 18 or even more than that? The players should come first, not increasing revenue for the league.
