Who is trying?
Owners cite a right to privacy when it suits them and player cite a right to privacy when it suits them.
Oh, the naked Paul Perillo was a joke. (I needed that to get to three.)
So privacy is only OK sometimes. Who decides? You? Me?
An impartial third party? OK. Define "impartial."
Perhaps I misunderstood, but in your original post it seemed like you were trying to equate three topics: NFL owners not wanting to open their books to the players; athletes objecting to drug testing; and the concept of professional sports franchise's business dealings being scrutinized by the public.
Perhaps points one and three are the same.
Or perhaps that's the start of black and white becoming gray.
The owners are claiming they need more money off the top for expenses. That's fine, but they're not in an industry like the rest of us.
A carpenter gets paid x dollars per hour for the job. NFL players may get paid x dollars per year, but their collective salaries are determined by revenue - as agreed upon by the owners.
NFL players and carpenters have completely different situations and completely different work agreements; let's not compare the two. Based on their work/pay agreement, if the NFL is going to say they need more off the top then it stands to reason that they should show how their expenses have exceed not only what they are getting off the top, but their percentage as well.
Point number two about drug testing? Good gawd, I could easily send this thread into the political forum with that one. What exactly is black and white but not gray in that debate? That many are of the opinion that alcohol is ten times worse than marijuana? That private sectors won't hire people that test positive but the NFL does? Why other private or public companies backup some of their rationale for drug testing as part of their hiring process because the NFL does it? I could easily bring up a hundred more questions on the topic that all got started by Nancy Reagan's 'just say no' campaign.
Then there is the whole 'what should you expect as a public figure' debate. Should Tom Brady be expected to accept paparazzi as part of his contract? If so, why does he get those photographers but Nnamdi Asomugha doesn't? Here's another one that could have dozens of more questions blurring the black and white lines into a grayish area.
Point is that my opinion differs from yours: to me this is in no way a black and white debate with no gray area.