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