Matt wrote: ↑February 21, 2020, 8:36 am
Botman wrote: ↑February 21, 2020, 8:26 am
NFLPA and NFL appear to be well on it's way to a new CBA being established and having no labor stoppages for at least the next 12 years
Will include a 17 game schedule, expanded play offs and only 3 pre season games...
Owners have approved it, it goes to the player reps and if they pass it on a 2/3 majority, it goes to all players for a simple majority.
But the details leaked out about this deal are horrific for the players... what they are getting for the extra games is not NEARLY enough.
I think it's going to pass but if i were a player, i'd be ringing everyone i know and getting them to vote against it, it's a disaster
what are they getting? or rather not getting?
So the keys to the deal appear to be the move to a 17 game schedule, remove 1 pre season game, and expand playoffs to 14 teams (only 1 team per Conference)
So that's an extra game for all players, an extra game for the teams who make the play off from 7th spot, and one less pre season game which is the game none of these guys play anyways (4th pre season game is basically just everyone who is getting cut the next day)
For that, the players are getting an increase in total revenue from 47% to 48.5%
Let's address that first, most of the players are not going to see this money, the changes in the new CBA have strengthened the minimum spend for teams a little bit but not much. The minimum wage will go up slightly, but again not much... this money is going to go to QB's first and foremost, 40-45mil per year for the top Qbs is going to be the norm, and maybe 2-3 other studs on the roster will get a bump... so for say Dallas, the increase in revenue that ultimately comes via the salary will end up meaning Dak gets paid a ton of money, and probably LVE, Amari and Zeke get top of the line money... no one is going to sniff that.
So all that revenue increase does it make sure the rich are going to get richer, and the back end of roster guys are largely going to be forgotten still, which is 90% of the league
Worth noting the NBA have 50% revenue sharing. The MLB has no cap and their player salaries fluctuate between 54-58% of total revenue. That's now, in 2020. This deal will take the NFL through to 2032 and at that point, 12 years from now, they will STILL not have parity on revenue.
They're not getting gtd deals, like the NBA, MLB and NHL have. The contract structures will be still be in place. They aren't getting rid of franchise tag or transition tags, which exist purely to neuter the market and restrict top line talent from hitting free agency and resetting the markets, so the owners can maintain salary control.
There is no one and done in College football, players have to go through 3 years before hitting the draft, so you're not making a dime until 22-23. Where as really good basketball players are out at 19-20. MLB get draft and into the minors as 18 year olds.
So now an NFL player hits the league at 22, and if he's not a QB, then he's got about 10 years to make money until 32... if you're a high pedigree guy and first round pick, it's 4 years plus the 5th year option... then the franchise tag, and then they might franchise you again... teams have total control of the player for 7 years of their at best 10 years.
So what do players do? They sign team friendly deals that pay them less than they deserve because there is no avenue for them to hit FA if they're that good. And the deals arent even guaranteed!
Nigel Bradham signed a 5 year 40m dollar deal in 2018. 2 years ago, the eagles released him yesterday... of that 40m deal he signed, he actually only got 10 of it and now the eagles can walk away without owing him a cent.
And the small schedule they play scrabbles half of their brains into CTE submission. CTE is not a problem is baseball and NBA, its your normal wear and tear of a pro athlete. It's not reducing you to a dribbling mess and heightening your risks of mental illness
In terms of how the money is to be dolled out, the players get game cheques. At the moment they get a prorated 16 game cheques based on salary. The structure proposed would keep that in place and for the 17th game, it would be paid out like the post season is, with a single capped cheque for 250k. Absurd.
The extra game will likely be a mandatory game in London/Mexico/Germany/where ever for each team, and include a 2nd bye, which will mean 18 week regular season.
So that's the money side... that's what they're getting for the extra game. And at least to my mind, it's pretty clear to me that they arent getting close to what they should for the added risk
The NFL are great though because they're sweetening the pot, because they're going to revise their drug policy and probably stop testing and suspending for pot This is not an economical incentive and given the way legislation has changed around the states with many of them decriminalising and even legalising pot, the NFL was going to relent on this anyways. Why are the players making any concessions to have this?
The players will get lightened training and camp schedules... again, not an economical incentive for the players. They dont have gruelling practise schedules now days anyways, that was dealt with in a huge way the last CBA. It's great for the owners because who doesnt want to work less? Which player wants more time on the training paddock? No one. But it's an easy concession that costs the owners nothing and gets them what they want.
The NFL needs to expand it's schedule and playoffs to continue to increase revenue. This current CBA wont expire for another 13 months. The NFL are desperately trying to push this through because it's a GREAT deal for them. The NFLPA needs to hold firm here, and push for 50/50 revenue split, a significant increase in minimum salary cap spending rules to ensure owners are sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars a year and increases to the minimum wage and PS players. Along with that, they should be pushing to have the rookie 5th year option be considered a type of franchise tag that escalates salaries the way the franchise tag does now on 2nd and 3rd years
and frankly whilst they'll never get rid of the franchise tag, they need to negotiate so that players arent allowed to be tagged more than once. That's what they should be getting for extra games