The new CBA

GoldFour4

According to Adam Schefter the two sides are roughly $25 million apart per team . $750- $800 million in total to try and cover .

Itssoeasy

I heard Adam Schefter say the word "Armageddon" will come to the football world if nothing is agreed by 4:59am Saturday morning Irish Time. Lads it doesn't sound good.

adrian522

NFL Network just reported that the union had decertified, then quickly backtracked saying someone has asked for a delay and some very last min negotiations taking place.

Expect a decision one way or the other very soon.

EDIT:

De Smith: Met with owners till 4. Discussed proposal. Significant differences remain. Informed owners they need more info. Want answers by 5

edit2: The Union has now apparently decertified, real possibility of shortened season now.

mikemac

Back to Federal court so

Shame on both sides, they had over two years to get this sorted!

GoldFour4

Nooooooooooooo

Itssoeasy

Well Im sorry and I know there is a censor on language. But **** **** **** BOTH sides for ****ing up the season for all us football fans. I dont want to have to watch Americas game for the season.

EDIT: as good as Americas game is BTW.

Leslie91

Greedy SOB owners.

Itssoeasy

http://nfllabor.com/2011/03/11/nfl-statement/

NFL statement.

adrian522

Leslie91 wrote: »

Greedy SOB owners.

And players

mikemac

Leslie91 wrote: »

Greedy SOB owners.

The owners and players are as bad as each other

ReacherCreature

I'm lost. What does this mean?

mikemac

ReacherCreature wrote: »

I'm lost. What does this mean?

As is my understanding (and please correct me if I'm wrong!)

The union decertified so it's not just one single entity now and can't be locked out. You would have to lock out every single player individually and that would never happen.

It goes back to federal court for yet more litigation
When the owners launch their case, it will name Peyton Manning, Brady and Brees on the case. They've been put forward by the union for this.

adrian522

feelingstressed wrote: »

As is my understanding

The union decertified so it's not just one single entity now and can't be locked out. You would have to lock out every single player individually and that would never happen.

It goes back to federal court for yet more litigation

There will be a class action anti trust law suit with Manning, Brees, Brady and others as plaintiffs. They will request an injunction against a lockout.

There will be lengthy court battles, there will be no trades or free agency.

There will be no preseason or off season activities until this is all sorted.

There is a high probability of a curtailed season in 2010.

Very tough on all teams from a football perspective, particularly if they have a new coach and/or new QB as they can't learn the new system.

mikemac

Big losers here are the free agents

Right now Nnamdi or Jonathan Joseph and others should be taking offers of big contracts.

The union may represent all players but the FA have lost out badly here.

As it is now, they are still under contract and nobody can approach them

adrian522

It also makes the draft much more important than usual as you can't rely on trades to fill areas of need.

also you can't trade draft picks for players only for other draft picks making it more difficult to trade up or down.

LuckyGent88

What a bunch of greedy p****s. :mad::mad:
Both sides dont seem to care about the fans one bit.

LuckyGent88

feelingstressed wrote: »

Billionaires vs millionaires
Isn't strictly true but sums it up pretty well.

They'd do well to remember it's fans buying their $90 jerseys on the nfl shop website and £80 tickets in Wembley for example

Not forgetting there are thousands of security and service staff in 31 stadiums who face losing their jobs

Its a disgrace that Brady,Manning and Brees are all putting there names to the lawsuit. They get paid over $20 million a year and all have that Super Bowl ring so why do they have to put themselves into this mess.
They always so the fans are the most important part of the game and this is how they re-pay them. :mad:
If we eventually get football played later on in the season, i hope the American fans boycott the first few matches just to show who really are the most important part of the NFL.

When a lockout happened in the NHL a few years back, the fans deserted the sport and are only now coming back.

mikemac

I'd deleted my last post as I've posted here too often tonight, just angry over it all

Just in case you're wondering why my last post was gone :pac:

Mr. Guappa

Up until today I was on the players side in this dispute but going by some of the reports emerging at the moment it appears that the owners were willing to make many concessions to get a deal done and the NFLPA were not budging from their position as they felt they could get a better deal through the courts. Basically the NFLPA had no interest in doing a deal at this stage and was set to decertify all along.

On the shortened season question.. I'm under the impression that play would resume/continue while the whole process goes through the courts?? I'm unclear as to how free agency is affected by this whole litigation process.. does the old CBA stay in place until a new agreement is reached or are those FA's in limbo?

Edit: PFT reporting that free agency could start tonight!!

mikemac

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Edit: PFT reporting that free agency could start tonight!!

I was certainly not expecting this!
It's good news if it goes ahead.

adrian522

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Up until today I was on the players side in this dispute but going by some of the reports emerging at the moment it appears that the owners were willing to make many concessions to get a deal done and the NFLPA were not budging from their position as they felt they could get a better deal through the courts. Basically the NFLPA had no interest in doing a deal at this stage and was set to decertify all along.

On the shortened season question.. I'm under the impression that play would resume/continue while the whole process goes through the courts?? I'm unclear as to how free agency is affected by this whole litigation process.. does the old CBA stay in place until a new agreement is reached or are those FA's in limbo?

Edit: PFT reporting that free agency could start tonight!!

No, The current CBA expires at mid night tonight. I don't think that any games can take place until there is a new agreement unless the players win their court case and get an injunction against a lockout.

On a side note, I am also unbelievably pissed off at both sides for not being able to come to an agreement.

18 of the top 20 shows on us tv the last season were football games and these guys cant get together to figure out how to divvy up $9 billion per year

Itssoeasy

The last CBA expired in 2008 but there was an opt out clause and they had at least two years to get a deal done and these selfish pricks on BOTH SIDES seems to have decided to deprive all fans of a full football season this year. I mean how fair is this to Indy if it is an extended work stoppage.

raven136

who is more to blame.

If you are the union and the owners want you to have less money and not show you their books then surely you would be seriously pissed off?

Sad they couldnt come to an agreement.

eagle eye

There is no side right. Greed on both sides will rob us of football in 2011. The fans are big losers here.

Both sides are big losers too, so stupid when you think about it. They can't come to an agreement and both sides loses huge money as a result.

Mr. Guappa

Some thoughts on what all this means from some people more informed than I: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/category/rumor-mill/

Now that the union has decertified, many of you are wondering what it all means and what will happen next. As one league source put it moments after the NFLPA went out of business, no one knows — and anyone who says they know is lying.
For now, let’s at least try to make sense of what has happened, and what could occur in the future.
What is decertification?
“Decertification” refers to the union’s decision to cease operations as the collective bargaining representative of the players. The NFLPA has now become merely a trade association with no power to talk on behalf of the players. The players are now all non-union workers.
The term “disclaimer of interest” has been used by folks like NFL outside counsel Bob Batterman to characterize the move. NFLPA spokesman George Atallah tells PFT that, in the NFLPA’s opinion, decertification and “disclaimer of interest” mean the same thing.
Why did the union decertify?
The most immediate goal of decertification is to prevent a lockout, since the owners of 32 separate businesses can’t shut the doors on a non-union workforce without violating antitrust laws. The league fears that the union will move very quickly to prevent a lockout, possibly seeking (and possibly obtaining) an order forcing the NFL teams to continue to operate — and thus to commence the new league year — by 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Will the NFL oppose decertification?
Presumably, yes. But the process could be complicated.
Last month, the league filed an unfair labor practices charge with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the union was simply going through the motions in the hopes of unleashing the decertification-and-litigation strategy. The NFL will surely try to get the NLRB to determine whether the decertification is a “sham” aimed merely at building leverage (which, frankly, it is), and the players will try to have that issue resolved by Judge David Doty.
As we pointed out earlier today, the Collective Bargaining Agreement contains language indicating that, under certain circumstances, the NFL will have waived the “sham” argument making the union’s strategy far more likely to succeed.
When will the players try to block a lockout?
They could move quickly. Already, an antitrust lawsuit has been filed. The lawsuit possibly requests an immediate order preventing a lockout.
The specific dynamics and timetable of the litigation currently remain unknown. As we suggested last night, Judge David Doty could prevent a lockout while the litigation proceeds. The lockout also could be blocked while any appeals are pursued by the league or the NFLPA.
As we’ve reported, teams are bracing for the possibility that Judge Doty will issue an order as soon as tonight that a lockout may not occur, setting the stage for free agency to begin at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday. At this point, no one knows what will happen.
What happens if the attempt to block a lockout fails?
If the NFL successfully prevents decertification or beats back a lawsuit aimed at stopping a lockout after decertification, the league would have the ability to shut down the sport as leverage against the players, in the hopes that the players eventually will decide to do a deal that allows them to get back on the field.
Make no mistake about it — the NFL will try to implement a lockout. Preventing players from playing, and thus from getting paid, is the league’s ultimate leverage toward a favorable labor deal. Conversely, letting them play while antitrust litigation unfolds would essentially fund the lawsuit and allow the players to see the case through to a favorable outcome, maximizing their leverage every step of the way.
What happens if the lockout is blocked?
At that point, the league will have to decide on the rules to be applied in 2011. Any rules used will expose the league to antitrust liability based on the argument that 32 separate businesses can’t come together and agree to rules for “drafting” employees and holding them in place after their individual contracts expire, via RFA tenders or the franchise tag. Also, a salary cap would potential violate antitrust laws.
The lawsuit could linger for years, but football would also continue. That’s precisely what happened the last time the union decertified, after the 1987 strike. The league continued, the players sued, the players eventually won a preliminary judgment, and the two sides struck a deal that became the first Collective Bargaining Agreement to include real free agency rights and a salary cap.
Will there still be a draft?
The only thing we know at this point is that a draft will still occur, from April 28 though April 30. Even in a lockout, the 2011 draft will happen.
What does it all mean to the fans?
Most immediately, free agency won’t happen until a court order is entered blocking a lockout, or until a lockout is resolved via a new labor deal. To the extent that fans are rooting for an outcome, they should be rooting for the players’ strategy to succeed, quickly.
If it does, we’ll have a full offseason and football while the fight shifts to the courtroom.
All that said, don’t believe for a second that the NFLPA launched this strategy for the fans. It was the best move aimed at getting the best deal; the fact that it entails football continuing is coincidental. Nearly 25 years ago, the NFLPA decided that going on strike was in the players’ best interests. That time around, they surely didn’t pick a course of action that time aimed at helping the fans.
Frankly, no one really cares about the fans right now. They pretend they do, but they don’t. Each side wants to cut its best deal, and none of this is being done for our benefit.
If any other sport was even remotely interesting to me, I’d tell both sides to shove it right now and go find something else to cover. But those of us who love the sport have no choice but to wait. Eventually, plenty of us who love the sport could wake up one day and decide they don’t love it any more.

ReacherCreature

So, in sum, clusterfcuk?

Itssoeasy

To be fair seeing as I posted the league's statement, I'll post the players association's statement.
NFL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION STATEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The NFL Players Association announced today it has informed the NFL, NFL clubs and other necessary parties that it has renounced its status as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the players of the National Football League.

The NFLPA will move forward as a professional trade association with the mission of supporting the interests and rights of current and former professional football players.

As a football fan both the league and union ****ed this up and are both greedy
parties.

mikemac

Wonder if we can get Shane Falco out of retirement....again



His services might be needed

bruschi

feelingstressed wrote: »

Big losers here are the free agents the fans

IMO

mikemac

Well yes, I'd agree with that and posted that earlier in the thread