The harsh reality of a life without the CBA
by Whatoffseason? on Feb 5, 2010 6:47 PM CST
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PrintIn the National Football League the most important thing is not the season, the Draft, or even the Super Bowl. The single most important thing in the NFL is the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The CBA is the deal between league owners and the players. The CBA includes the terms for free agency and the all-important salary cap. Because the owners have chosen to opt out of the current agreement, the 2010 season is set to be a cap-free season. There are many things that will occur when the 2010 season goes uncapped in March.
First, the years of experience required to be an unrestricted-free-agent will go from 4 to 6. This will dry up the free agent market of many players, who use their forth or fifth season as a chance to get the large contract of their career, will not be available. Furthering the now shallow pool, each team will be eligible to use an extra franchise or transition tag. Under the current CBA, teams can use one franchise tag or one transition tag. Without a cap, each team can use a franchise tag or a transition tag. (A franchise tag is a one-year contract worth the average of the 5 highest paid players at the same position as the player being tagged. The transition tag is the average of the top 10.) With the extra team tags, the shallow pool will become nothing more than a puddle. There will also be restrictions on signing for teams who made the play-offs.
In the long term, many league officials have said that once the league goes uncapped it will be impossible to become recapped. If that were not bad enough, if a new deal is not struck by March, 2011 the league will be locked out. But with all this doom and gloom, it is important to remember that there is still time to make an agreement. So, do not throw away your jerseys or cancel your PSL's. Just understand the possibilities, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
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I really don’t believe that the NFL will go to a lockout. I don’t think the players and the owners will shut down the most profitable sport in America and one of the most in the whole world.
"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that."
by Brandon Birkhead on Feb 6, 2010 8:18 AM CST reply actions
have you been paying attention?
an official said yesterday that on a scale of 1 to 10, it is a 14 that there will be a lockout
i know that but i still believe that they will get a deal done before that
they wont just shut down the biggest league in america
"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that."
by Brandon Birkhead on Feb 6, 2010 12:43 PM CST up reply actions
also plaxico said he will play in the nfl again and that is not true also
"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that."
by Brandon Birkhead on Feb 6, 2010 12:45 PM CST reply actions
there will be a lockout
thats what the owners have been preparing for for the last several years…those new tv contracts will be paid to the teams whether they play or not. The owners have a FAT war chest for this; the players dont. And they should realize this now and hurry up and put pressure on the nflpa to get this deal done. Swallow some pride and stay on the field, the owners dont want a salary-capless league and they want a rookie pay scale, both of which are reasonable demands. They’ll let the league sit before they cave…they will get their checks, the players wont.
I heard Kevin Mawae
say that they were asked to take an 8% paycut even though the league makes like 8 billion dollars a year. That’s pretty ridiculous that you make that kind of money and you want your employees to take a paycut. If they want to save money, have rookie contracts.
On the court they call me The Cloud, because I make it rain. They also call me Money, because I drop dimes.
I think the 8 billion, if it's even an accurate number, is gross revenue, not profit.
And they pay 60% of that to the players, before they even start paying all their other expenses, cost of new stadiums, etc.
You have to be careful to sort through the claims to get the facts, not just be led down the garden path by the spokesman for one side or the other. Both sides are quite capable of putting out lots of smoke while trying to make the other side look like the bad guys. Both want to get the fans on their side to pressure the other side. Don’t fall for it. Put pressure equally on both sides and tell them they better get something done.
*reply button*
On the court they call me The Cloud, because I make it rain. They also call me Money, because I drop dimes.
if they get rid of the salary cap and revenue sharing...
it will be the end of competitive football
it will be back to the old days, where Superbowls were decided by a 20 point minimum.
Dallas, Washington, and the other big market teams will become a fixture in postseason play, while teams like Buffalo and Jacksonville will become an even bigger joke.
Somehow I blame Jerry Jones for all this. Maybe if he didn’t build that rediculous stadium, he wouldn’t be desperate for cash.
I'll come back after a lockout BUT
I won’t watch second rate scabs play.
If they try to stock the games with imposters I will only watch the blooper highlight reels.
I bet my season tickets will still be available for me to buy when it’s all over, too. I guess I can look at that as the silver lining of owning Raider seats at a time like this.
I just can't imagine they won't get this resolved.
Both sides surely know how angry the fans would be if it happened, and neither side is gonna be the good guys in the eyes of the fans. Maybe they are delusional enough to think otherwise, but I sure hope there are at least some intelligent people on both sides who can work it out.
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