New CBA could happen by late June

[MoLewisrocks]

Breer just posed a question on twitter that should eas for serious NFL fans to answer...

Serious question for NFL fans: If we get an agreement around 7/15 that sets up 15-20 years of labor peace, was the last 4 months worth it?

HELL YEAH.

 

[patfanken]

Negotiated any where the terms of any agreement in principle clearly violate anti trust in the absence of a union and an enforceable CBA?

Before anyone goes back to work the lawsuit has to be settled (or dismissed) and the union has to recertify or the owners won't have anyone worth agreeing with...

That's just wrong, Mo. The Reggie White case was in play long after the deal that ended that strike was completed and the the teams were playing again. IIRC it was YEARS before it was settled.

BTW- in case you haven't noticed THERE IS NO "UNION". The courts CANNOT demand that there be one to settle anything. Right now the owners are negotiating with a players "association" NOT the NFLPA which officially doesn't exist (for those who still think that the desertification of the "union" wasn't a sham )

The owners can lift the lockout at ANYTIME. They can set the rules by which the game will be played. That's there right. There IS NO NFLPA to negotiate with (wink wink)

BTW- there isn't a court in the land who would step in to invoke some arcane inappropriately used anti-trust laws between two parties who are well on their way to settling a dispute. How ridiculous would that be. It would defy the laws of simple common sense, as well a be a PR nightmare for the Judge/and or lawyers who created a problem where there soon looks like they will be a solution.

Time to get a grip on your cynicism

 

[patfanken]

If they're still in negotiations you don't exhaust your leverage until the deal is consummated ken. It's basic business philosophy. If I were in the owners circle I know I wouldn't end the lockout until an agreement was struck and an iron clad contract set in place.

I would disagree, at least strategy wise. I think it would put even MORE pressure on the players to get a deal done if the owners lifted the lockout now. They would be perceived as taking the high road. IF and I say IF there was a breakdown, they could easily paint the players as the bad guys, and reinstate the lockout with little harm done to them. Again more pressure on the players.

In a negotiation, especially at this point, giving what would be perceived as a huge concession is a great strategy especially when can be so easily reversed. so while it looks like a big concession, and the fans will love it, it really isn't as big as the perceived benefits AND the players will have to give something in return.

 

[ausbacker]

I would disagree, at least strategy wise. I think it would put even MORE pressure on the players to get a deal done if the owners lifted the lockout now. They would be perceived as taking the high road. IF and I say IF there was a breakdown, they could easily paint the players as the bad guys, and reinstate the lockout with little harm done to them. Again more pressure on the players.

In a negotiation, especially at this point, giving what would be perceived as a huge concession is a great strategy especially when can be so easily reversed. so while it looks like a big concession, and the fans will love it, it really isn't as big as the perceived benefits AND the players will have to give something in return.

The problem with this mentality is it's working from the hypothetical standpoint that there's pressure on the players to get the CBA done. The owners lifting the lockout achieves nothing given most people recognize both parties are at equal fault during this sequence of events.

I can't see how the owners lifting the lockout benefits them in any way and puts pressure on the players.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

That's just wrong, Mo. The Reggie White case was in play long after the deal that ended that strike was completed and the the teams were playing again. IIRC it was YEARS before it was settled.

BTW- in case you haven't noticed THERE IS NO "UNION". The courts CANNOT demand that there be one to settle anything. Right now the owners are negotiating with a players "association" NOT the NFLPA which officially doesn't exist (for those who still think that the desertification of the "union" wasn't a sham )

The owners can lift the lockout at ANYTIME. They can set the rules by which the game will be played. That's there right. There IS NO NFLPA to negotiate with (wink wink)

BTW- there isn't a court in the land who would step in to invoke some arcane inappropriately used anti-trust laws between two parties who are well on their way to settling a dispute. How ridiculous would that be. It would defy the laws of simple common sense, as well a be a PR nightmare for the Judge/and or lawyers who created a problem where there soon looks like they will be a solution.

Time to get a grip on your cynicism

Peter King's sources seem to think you should reign in your blind enthusiasm...

Now the devil is in the details on these things, and owners and players are working to get closer on them.

Look for the talks to continue this week, somewhere. But don't expect a resolution imminently. The CBA is long and tedious, and each side is going over every sentence, even without the lawyers in-house. "It'd be a mistake to think it's certainly going to happen,'' said one source. "There's a long way to go. But instead of people yelling at each other, trying to score debating points, now people are sitting down and talking to each other, trying to solve a very involved case. That's progress.''

I said in SI the other day my over-under for a deal is July 4. I might say July 10 now, but I still think chances are better there will be a deal than there won't -- and that deal will come within a month.

Tom Brady, Ricky*Stanzi*saddened by grim news about Tom Martinez - Peter King - SI.com


And the CBA of 1993 was the settlement of the Reggie White case in which a jury had already reached it's verdict. Judge Doty simply prodded both sides to come to terms as a result rather than wait for him to impose on both sides his version of FA. They did. The league has long regretted the fact that they allowed players to play even under their own terms and absent a CBA during the course of those proceedings and lost all leverage towards a more favorable CBA in the process. They decided a long time ago that would never happen again.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

They are meeting not so secretly again this week in Maryland. And the signs remain positive. As long as folks understand that these things are always tenuous and a misstep along the way could cause it all to unravel. That is why you won't see any pre agreements or pre-emptive lifting of lockouts. The goal is to remain positive and keep making progress towards a deal both sides can live with the spin potential of, hopefully for upwards of the next 20 years...

The goal presently seems to be some basis of a deal for all 32 owners to weigh in on by next week's owners meetings and an actual agreement both sides can vote on POSSIBLY within a week or two thereafter.

Progress in NFL talks puts deal within reach - The Washington Post

 

[EJ Blitz]

I don't even believe anyone anymore, this stuff just keeps getting pushed back. I'm going to punch someone in the chest.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I don't even believe anyone anymore, this stuff just keeps getting pushed back. I'm going to punch someone in the chest.

It's all about managing expectations and neither side nor the media nor fans have done a very good job of that since March. They are making a concerted effort to now. They are making progress but it's not a simple negotiation. This thing is playing out about as well as could be expected considering what all it involves. I know many fans dismissed a lockout or lawsuit as anything more than rhetorical bluster while others insisted either actually happening was the end of the world... The truth as always lay somewhere in the middle. While the % split remains the overriding issue, there was a lot of stuff in the CBA that had evolved over the last 18 seasons that needed to be addressed for the good of the game and all involved going forward. What's that old adage, nothing worthwhile is ever easy. It is a BIG business for the owners and players after all and not just America's most compelling passtime.

And while season ticket holders in particular and most veteran players have no use for the preseason, the fact that it's worth almost 3/4 of a billion in pie volume makes it a reasonable bet that neither side will risk it being missed. Until now nothing has ever been worth getting down to brass tack over. And in negotiations like these real compromise never occurs until there is something significant to one or both sides about to be lost absent it.

Here's hoping you're not a big NBA fan because if so you're up again next...and that one could get a lot uglier given that league's financial situation (teams in dire straits and players with obscene guaranteed contracts) and just the nature of the beast...

 

[denverpatsfan]

2-4 weeks away from a resolution according to my friends who work with the Philadelphia Eagles organization.

Not a done deal by any stretch but encouraging news.

Everyone I spoke with was optimistic that the season would start on time.

 

[Wolfpack]

2-4 weeks away from a resolution according to my friends who work with the Philadelphia Eagles organization.

I'm sure they came to that guesstimate by reading the exact same articles as all the rest of us.