Owners opt-out of deal
As expected, the NFL owners voted to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association today. The owners are not happy that they are paying out 59.5 percent of all league revenues to players. This means the players probably are headed for a showdown in March 2009. If the two sides can find a compromise by then, there will be labor peace and an extension of the current salary-cap system for long into the future. If not, the threat of a work stoppage looms larger, because 2009 would be the last year with a salary cap, and the cap rules would be altered for '09. Obviously, with the league reaping close to $7 billion in revenues a year, there is plenty of room for compromise. I think the likeliest scenario is the league will get the players union to accept a minor give-back. The players need to agree to share some amount of the cost of the debt the league has incurred, largely through the construction of stadia. The union won't accept a big give-back, but they could accept a small one and get away with it because the issue is so complex it should be easy to get the players to go along with it. This would allow the owners to save face a little. If the owners insist on a major give-back by the union, there will be a work stoppage. Gene Upshaw contends that the owners have enough money - with their 40.5 percent - go go around if they would just share it a more effective way. He has a good point.
---Mark Gaughan
Some say there are two seasons in Buffalo, football season and waiting for football season. Bills beat writers Mark Gaughan and Allen Wilson, along with sports columnist Bob DiCesare and reporters Rodney McKissic and Milt Northrop, offer background and perspective inside the Bills and the NFL.
Ralph was right.
Posted by: Cowherd is a dope | May 20, 2008 at 10:11 PM