Pft: Nfl, Union Closing In On A Deal

[DefenseRules]

http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

NFL, UNION CLOSING IN ON A DEAL

A league source tells us that the NFL and its players union are getting closer and closer to reaching an agreement on an extension to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Per the source, the two sides have tentatively agreed that 58 percent of all football revenues will be devoted to player salaries. The last remaining hurdle is the "cash over cap" limit, which is the device that the owners will utilize to ensure that franchises earning high amounts of unshared revenue cannot skew the competitive balance by making total cash payments in any given year that greatly exceed the salary cap for that season.

From the players' perspective, unlimited cash over cap helps to get more money into the hands of players sooner rather than later. In a league where the only guarantee is the money already paid, placing a limit on this device is a potentially significant concession.

For owners, an agreement limiting the extent to which a team like the Redskins can borrow against future salary caps by pouring excess money into a team that might be only a couple of parts away from a championship run will make it easier for lesser-earning teams to compete for free agents.

Still, the key factor (as we see it) is the salary floor. If teams like the Bengals and Cardinals choose to rebel against a salary cap amount driven higher by the enormous revenues generated by teams like the Redskins, the union needs to push hard for a high minimum. Currently, the minimum is based on 54 percent of the so-called defined gross revenues. We think that the new CBA should contain a per-team minimum of at least 50 percent of the total football revenues.

As to revenue sharing, our guess is that the NFL will continue its current system of equally sharing amounts that presently equate to roughly 80 percent of all dollars earned. The league also is likely to tinker with its supplemental revenue sharing system, which already provides additional money to teams with a defined need for it. Moving forward, our guess is that the NFL will tweak the formula for determining whether a team is entitled to supplemental revenue sharing -- and will require that the team demonstrate some tangible desire and effort to enhance its own revenues before the team will be eligible to share even more of the money earned by others.

FWIW, it sounds like they just might be headed in the right direction.
But I'll wait for an "OFFICIAL" announcement before I get to excited.

 

[Pats726]

This is good news...but I agree...wait until it is over and completed..NO dancing in the streets yet....Thought it was like that BEFORE and..it almost turned into a pumpkin...

 

[AdamJT13]

ESPNews just said talks are "dead as a doornail," according to the NFLPA's lead negotiator. And Gene Upshaw is leaving New York.

 

[BionicPatriot]

Hahaha..I've given up on listening to anyone. I'm just gonna wait untill the clock hits midnight, and if a deal is done so be it. If not, oh well. I'm done with this he said she said garbage. We'll know for sure come sunday.

 

[pats60]

tired of PFT giving us the wrong story.
going to delete them from my computer
Thier story comes out at 247 pm giving us good news
espn news tells us at 345 talks broken off

 

[DefenseRules]

And Foxsports tells another story.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5380160

Owners holding up CBA extension
John Czarnecki / FOXSports.com
Posted: 22 minutes ago

It depends on the day and whom you are talking with, but there are many within the NFL who believe that commissioner Paul Tagliabue and union boss Gene Upshaw have a handshake deal, but that the commissioner simply can't get enough support from ownership for his extension to the current collective bargaining agreement.

The rationale behind such thinking is that Tagliabue and Upshaw are smart men with a total understanding of the financial bottom line and that they both find it idiotic to spend the rest of their few remaining years on the job arguing about salary-cap issues considering the billion-dollar enterprise that keeps them wealthy and employed.

Basically, this past week has seen a lot of posturing on both sides of this huge financial issue but the word is that Upshaw wants to finalize an agreement and that it doesn't necessarily have to start with 60 percent of the total league-wide revenue. Interestingly, whatever he has discussed with Tagliabue he hasn't shared with his union members.

The players have no idea about what benefits and salary levels may be part of any potential long-range package.

One major holdup is that small-market teams like Jacksonville, Minnesota, New Orleans, San Diego and Oakland would like to limit their very rich competitors from spending more money on salaries above whatever salary cap number is agreed upon. For example, teams like the Redskins and Cowboys have in the past spent more money on player salaries in a given season because of excessive bonuses given star players (the current system allows teams to pro-rate bonuses over the length of a player's contract). Low revenue teams would prefer that there be no "cash over cap" in the new deal, particularly if there's no wholesale revenue sharing among the top revenue-generating clubs.

 

[BionicPatriot]

tired of PFT giving us the wrong story.
going to delete them from my computer
Thier story comes out at 247 pm giving us good news
espn news tells us at 345 talks broken off

Look, don't stress over it. Your gonna hear good news and bad news every 3 hours from here on out. Just wait untill the clock hits midnight I say.