One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere...)

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

What happens to the draft if this lockout is still effect on April 28th?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

Nothing. As has been widely written and talked about for months now Armen. The expired CBA included as it's last piece of business that a draft would be held in 2011. Once teams turn in their card and select a player, however, they will not be able to speak to him any further until a new CBA is agreed to or until a new league year commences under some other terms. Just like all the other players who are locked out.

 

[cavtroop]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

Rather than open yet another thread, I'll ask a related question here. Why can't teams talk to players? There is no union, they decertified? What is stopping them from contacting players (that want to be contacted), draftee's etc, and getting deals done, having camps, etc.

I assume it's because this is a lockout and not a strike by the union, but whats the legaleese behind this?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

Rather than open yet another thread, I'll ask a related question here. Why can't teams talk to players? There is no union, they decertified? What is stopping them from contacting players (that want to be contacted), draftee's etc, and getting deals done, having camps, etc.

I assume it's because this is a lockout and not a strike by the union, but whats the legaleese behind this?

There are no work rules in effect at this juncture or template for contracting with rookies and the kind of work rules that a revenue partnership like this (or any other) 32 team owner operated league needs in order to operate within the law require collectively bargained terms to allow the to not run afoul of anti trust law.

Which is why I think it's kind of silly to anticipate a court forcing them to reopen their doors under terms they have stated are unpaletable or worse invite slam dunk litigation... Of course that's just my common sense opinion, although I heard the Dean of Indiana University Law School say the same thing the other day... And it's never a slam dunk that courts operate on common sense principles since they are run by lawyers.

 

[cavtroop]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

to allow the to not run afoul of anti trust law....

Ahhh, so thats the catch. The NFL could setup rules/framework to allow them to contact players individually, etc, but that would open the door to antitrust lawsuits, gotcha.

Bah, just give me my football, they're ruining my offseason....

 

[Rob0729]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

More evidence that that the players are being unreasonable:

Report: NFLPA* source says there’s “no chance” of negotiations before April 6 | ProFootballTalk

So the player don't want to negotiate under any circumstance for three weeks. Yeah, that's reasonable. It is quite clear, if Schefter's report is true, that they never really wanted to negotiate and they wanted the league to take or leave their offer or they would just let the courts decide.

Not saying the owners are being any more reasonable, but it seems clear the players were never going to settle for anything other than basically keeping the 2006 system in place or very incremental changes.

I agree with Florio in that since they won the Lockout insurance case, the NFLPA basically decided that negotiation was never a real option because they think they will win in court.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

More evidence that that the players are being unreasonable:

Yet more distortion. Well, at least one thing is clear - the players are losing the PR battle and most of the public has no idea what is actually happening, they are now just EATING UP the spin being spit out by the owners painting the players as greedy and lawsuit-happy without understanding the details or history for why the current deal expired.

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

Nothing. As has been widely written and talked about for months now Armen. The expired CBA included as it's last piece of business that a draft would be held in 2011. Once teams turn in their card and select a player, however, they will not be able to speak to him any further until a new CBA is agreed to or until a new league year commences under some other terms. Just like all the other players who are locked out.

Must've missed that or just didn't really c are that much until now, when I am faced with this BS ruining football season!

Also, I heard the union (which I thought no longer existed) was asking the top draft propects to boycott the draft.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

Must've missed that or just didn't really c are that much until now, when I am faced with this BS ruining football season!

Also, I heard the union (which I thought no longer existed) was asking the top draft propects to boycott the draft.

The Association (NFLPA) no longer exists as a union, if it ever really was one. However it still exists as an entity that represents it's members interests. Apparently it thinks it's in it's members interest to ask the agents it no longer controls to urge their clients projected as top tier selections who are not yet members of the organization and whom the NFLPA is only too willing to agree to cap contractually going forward to show solidarity with them by boycotting the draft festivities. Same thing they were rumored to have asked agents (who at the time laughed at the suggestion) to do over a month ago, although they officially denied having done so at that time... Turning out to be a petty PR nightmare that impacts coverage only and that includes ESPN as well. Those players will still be drafted whether they allow the Association to use them as PR pawns or not...

The league still intends to do what it has done in the past, extend invitations to those draftees and their families to attend the once in a lifetime festivities in NY as all expense paid guests of the league.

There is also reportedly a plan being discussed to have celebrity veteran pickets protest outside the venue in order to create a situation where any draftees who do attend will be portrayed as crossing the line...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

The league still intends to do what it has done in the past, extend invitations to those draftees and their families to attend the once in a lifetime festivities in NY as all expense paid guests of the league.

There is also reportedly a plan being discussed to have celebrity veteran pickets protest outside the venue in order to create a situation where any draftees who do attend will be portrayed as crossing the line...

I can see it now.
Brady et. al. outside with Tom threatening to unleash Gisselle's twin mini-poodles on the hapless draftees.

 

[TrueBeliever]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

Also, I heard the union (which I thought no longer existed) was asking the top draft propects to boycott the draft.

The first report I heard yesterday just said that the prospects just plain wouldn't be there, which made me wonder if the league or the union told them not to go. Later reports indicated it was the union. Thing is only a handful of the top guys get invited anyway, and it's even less these days after what happened with Matt Leinart; so really this only affects the first round anyway.

As for why teams can't talk to players period, there are two reasons I can think of. One, the potential for tampering or allegations of tampering is enormous, since no one is really "under contract" right now (though I could be wrong on that.) Two, the league doesn't want teams making offers that could violate the new CBA if/when it is put in place.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

I can see it now.
Brady et. al. outside with Tom threatening to unleash Gisselle's twin mini-poodles on the hapless draftees.

I think you mean Vida the alpha dog Yorkie and Lua the loveable pitbull... Actually I think it's interesting that while lending their names to the lawsuit Tom and Peyton are otherwise maintaining low profiles and letting the 3rd stringer handle the QBing duties in this rhetoric fueled mudbowl.

I wonder if Peyton has a pet he could bring and does it have a huge forehead? This pet looks like a cross between Manning and De Smith...and if I were a college draft prospect crossing that duo would scare the bejesus out of me.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: One more lockout question (apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere

Just wow on the agents implied threat of physical harm...and Peter didn't even think to mention that the entity asking draftees to do this and show solidarity with them is the same one that has been more than willing to sell that top tier as well as the one that preceded it down the river for the last year and a half (the NFLPA first proposed a rookie wage scale tradeoff in 2010 in exchange for maintaining the CBA status quo for the veteran brothers who would now be greeting them in alternative to the NFL Commissioner).

That's right, players who aren't in the NFL yet and haven't paid a dime of union dues could be the latest pawns in the fight between the owners and players over a new collective bargaining agreement. The decertified union is looking into getting veterans from every team to show up in New York, so that when the college players are drafted, they'll all have a future teammate, not the commissioner, greet them.

Will it work? One agent with several prospective first-round picks thinks it will, telling me this morning: "What is the first round of the draft for the NFL? It's a TV show, a show that makes the league a lot of money. They're going to be asking young men to shake the hand of a commissioner [Roger Goodell] who is trying to lock them out. They're going to be asking young men to help the league put on this big TV production. And I can tell you this: There're a few quarterbacks who could get picked high in this draft and the NFL will invite to New York. All those quarterbacks would do by attending the draft for the NFL is giving DeMarcus Ware more incentive to knock their blocks off the first time they line up across the line of scrimmage from him.''

Read more: NFLPA draft boycott would disrupt NFL draft tradition - Peter King - SI.com