Owners, players reach agreement on economics of labor deal

tallaghtoutlaws · 15-07-2011 8:54pm #1

End is in sight it seems

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d820caaf6/article/owners-players-reach-agreement-on-economics-of-labor-deal?module=HP11_headline_stack

NEW YORK -- Following a breakthrough in negotiations between NFL owners and players, it now appears the economics of a new collective bargaining agreement essentially are done.

The parties closed in on an agreement on the rookie compensation system Thursday, the single biggest benchmark of progress over the last two weeks of talks. A lot of details remain, though it's hard to envision those left standing in the way of a labor deal.

The sides arrived for Friday's negotiations at 9 a.m., with an eye on building off momentum gathered during Thursday's marathon session. The date -- July 15 -- is significant because it's an internal deadline to save the preseason in its normal form that has sat for months. With the league's objective of presenting the full ownership group a completed proposal in Atlanta next Thursday, that deadline might be flexible, but the urgency has been turned up.

The plan is for talks to continue to chip away at some of the remaining issues throughout the meeting Friday, then work via conference call over the weekend before owners and players reconvene for their scheduled mediation before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan in Minnesota on Tuesday, sources with knowledge of the situation told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora.

Unlock HQ Video HQ video delivered by Akamai

While the institution of rookie compensation system is a concession in itself, the players' side gave a little more in allowing some rules preventing the renegotiation of draft picks' deals until after three years. The owners' concessions came on the price tag for the fifth-year option for first-round picks, which the players want paid at the top of the market.

According to sources, it was agreed that the fifth-year option for rookie contracts -- a major point of contention -- would pay top-10 picks the average salary of the top 10 players at their position. For picks 11-32, the amount would be the average of salaries 3-25 at a given position. All figures will be taken from the third year of rookie contracts, meaning that for top-10 picks, their fifth-year option amount would be equal to the transition tag number from the previous year.

With that hurdle cleared, two sources said, "We're not there yet," on Thursday night, and one referred to the remaining issues as "real stumbling blocks."

The remaining issues between the owners and players are being dealt with collectively, according to an involved source. The process isn't linear, and the parties aren't simply checking items off a list, with each issue affecting others.

Primary among the unresolved problems are the Legacy Fund (retirees benefits), player safety, the appeals process for player discipline, worker's compensation and injury guarantees in contracts. Litigation entanglements also must be addressed.

The sides have had discussions about the issue of players who lost the chance to earn offseason workout bonuses due to the lockout, and while it has not yet been fully resolved, the NFLPA expects those payments to be ultimately paid in full, sources within their camp told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora.

Proposals have been discussed which would include eligible players getting a lesser percentage of what they were due -- these bonuses are frequently worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, with Jets tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson having a $750,000 offseason workout bonus in 2011, for instance. The bonuses are pegged to a player participating in a set percentage of all of his team's offseason sessions -- all of which were wiped out by the lockout this year.

Sources within the players camp maintain they have no intention of taking less than the full value of the bonuses and anticipate that outcome. It's one of the issues yet to be resolved, but is relatively minor and not one that is expected to cause a significant fight.

The parties must work on language to settle the Brady antitrust suit and any plaintiff damages, as well as address the looming decision by Judge David Doty in the television rights fee case. And no deal can be complete until the owners and players address the issue of whether now, and how, the NFL Players Association re-constitutes as a labor union.

But the major tenets of the deal are in place. Whether the full terms in principle are completed this weekend or next week, there's a prevailing sense from both parties that the sides are finally nearing an agreement.

Just as the owners need to vote on an agreement, the players do as well. It's a point that NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith made upon his arrival to Friday's meeting.

"I know our fans are frustrated and want to get it done," Smith said. "We'll get everything to the players when the time is right."

Based on Thursday's progress, which followed a tough Wednesday between players and owners and two difficult negotiation days the previous week, there is a feeling that the owners' goal of a July 21 vote is increasingly realistic.

With that push as the backdrop, the league group grew by one Friday with the arrival of Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown. The league labor committee now has nine of 10 members present, with co-chair Pat Bowlen of the Denver Broncos still in Hawaii on Thursday. Bowlen was trying to arrange to reach New York and has been participating via conference call.

The players' group also grew by one, with Houston Texans offense tackle Eric Winston joining.

The owners and players put several issues to bed Thursday before breaking for the night, according to sources with direct knowledge of the talks. Those issues included re-addressing the commissioner's power via discipline. A panel of former judges will oversee special master and other decisions, but specifically how commissioner discipline issues are appealed hasn't yet been resolved, though it's "trending" toward a decision, sources said.

Salary-cap details also became clear. The 2011 projected cap will be roughly $123 million, according to sources, but as a practical matter will "feel" more like $130 million to teams when cap credits and new cap exceptions are factored. Teams will have to spend, in cash, 90 percent to the cap minimum and league-wide spending will be pegged at 99 percent to the cap.

Torlac · 25-07-2011 1:25pm

thank F for that:p

Peyton Manning · 25-07-2011 2:29pm

God I can't wait for the ESPN MNF intro now, with ol' Hank bellowing "Get ready for some footbaaaaaaaaaaall!"

Hazys · 25-07-2011 2:50pm

Press conference for 3pm EST time to annouce the results of the player vote...which "should" be a formality.

At the press conference they're expected to announce the timeline for the week.

Loads of Q's on the timeline havent been confirmed. Free agency starts at 12pm EST tomorrow, but not for unrestricted FAs, i think they get FA at 6 pm Friday. I dont know if its the same for undrafted FA's, they could get signed 2moro.....? Draft picks can be signed 2moro also

League season starts 2moro so trades can start tomorrow. On day 2 of the season (Wednesday) a lot of players get roster bonuses so expect a lot of players to get released tomorrow.

Training camps start friday!!

All this CBA and whinging about money bullsh1t is finally over, all the offseason activites are cramped into one week, profootballtalk.com will be hit with a million F5's by me in the next few days, my twitter account will explode and i'll probably get fired from work but more importantly...

Are you ready for some football?

Chucky the tree · 25-07-2011 3:36pm

Is it still 16 games with the normal start time and just a shortened TC and no(?) pre-season games?

Hazys · 25-07-2011 3:49pm

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Is it still 16 games with the normal start time and just a shortened TC and no(?) pre-season games?

16 games normal start time and 4 pre-season games as usual. Training Camp will be the same length as normal but it will incorpate the the new rules like no two-a-days, etc.

Whats missed is 2 months of off-season programs and Free Agency will still be in full swing when TC starts. So new FAs might not join their new team till mid-TC. I think the TC rosters will be increased to 90 just for this season also.

We'll know the exact schedule for the week and new rules when the NLFPA(*) have their press conference and publish the new deal. Since i posted with what i read as the timeline, i've seen 2 different timelines, no body knows for sure what this week will be like.

Peyton Manning · 25-07-2011 5:56pm

Per Adam Schefter just minutes ago, the NFLPA have officially accepted the deal.

For the first time, it's officially over !

Hazys · 25-07-2011 6:00pm

Lockout is over...it lasted 189,528 minutes there wont be another lockout for another 5,259,487.66 minutes :cool:

Peyton Manning · 25-07-2011 6:31pm

List of training camp start days - all 32 teams will be in camp come Friday.

http://t.co/wVQbUgg

frostie500 · 25-07-2011 6:34pm

Woo hoo its over!

spiralism · 25-07-2011 6:34pm

It's finally over! Wouldn't believe it till i saw it!

From the broncos forum:

Per ESPN, schedule looks like this so far:
• Monday: The NFL will announce that teams can go to 90-man rosters and the official free-agent list will be distributed to teams.

• Tuesday: Teams can reach agreements with rookies and undrafted free agents beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Teams can reach agreements with all free agents and signed players are allowed to enter team facilities.

• Wednesday: Players can begin reporting to training camps 15 days before their first preseason games. According to the proposed timeline, 10 teams would report on Wednesday, 10 more on Thursday and 10 additional teams on Friday. The New York Jets and Houston Texans would be the last two teams to report, on Sunday.

• Thursday: Teams can begin to cut players at 4 p.m. ET.

• Friday: Teams can begin filing transactions to the league office at 6 p.m. ET.

So Free Agency with RFAs and UFAs starts Friday evening, though meetings can start happening from tomorrow, along with trades