the owners did their part :) Lets Play

[vince]

I kind of agree with this. Give the players the full information and let it go to a vote. If it fails, then you can figure out what the players thought was wrong with it, but everyone needs to shut up until then. Especially those with law degrees.

The problem is the guys with law degrees know it would pass and they would stop collecting fees and making names for themselves.

[mraynrand]

It looks like the owners did well - they got some monies for those who fix up the ole' homestead. They got lower percentages to fork over to the players, but on the whole enchilada. It looks like the players got a lot too. They got lower on the initial cap and top tier rookies, but they got less hittin' and a share of all the revenue - even if the percentage is lower, it looks like there are no excluded pools, plus higher minimums and more actual cash on the cap. And collective bargaining on all the other sticky points - if they recertify.

What's the possible deal breaker for the players?

[vince]

More accurate is what is the possible deal breaker for the players' attorneys...

For the attorneys, it's an electronic vs. snail mail recertification voting process to cover their asses for the next time they want to decertify.
The players supposedly want a 7-year opt-out option, but I highly doubt that will sway the voting.

Other than that there's a bunch of chest thumping, misdirection and spin by the players' attorneys and reps.

[MJZiggy]

The problem is the guys with law degrees know it would pass and they would stop collecting fees and making names for themselves.

I think we have a winner!

[Tony Oday]

Fuck the players and the NFL. You miss a season I stop watching and spending what I do which I believe a lot of people will.

[mraynrand]

Fuck the players and the NFL. You miss a season I stop watching and spending what I do which I believe a lot of people will.

I don't think missing a season will happen, nor will even a loss of significant numbers of games drive fans away - based on the '82 and '87 work stoppages. What will depress the fan base is if they think competition is destroyed or if they see one side players/owners getting way way too much. It looks like they averted all of these land mines

[SkinBasket]

Haha I give it to the owners by making a power move. They knew the media would make the players look like the bad guys and people like you would eat it up.

You're not making any sense. Which part was funny? How is the media making the players the "bad guys?" You say all these words. Let's try to make them mean something. I'm here to help. It'll be like community service.

[red]

It looks like the owners did well - they got some monies for those who fix up the ole' homestead. They got lower percentages to fork over to the players, but on the whole enchilada. It looks like the players got a lot too. They got lower on the initial cap and top tier rookies, but they got less hittin' and a share of all the revenue - even if the percentage is lower, it looks like there are no excluded pools, plus higher minimums and more actual cash on the cap. And collective bargaining on all the other sticky points - if they recertify.

What's the possible deal breaker for the players?

Jerry jones i think said it best last night when he was interviewed. he said something to the effect that, it would seem to be a good deal for all sides because no one is really happy with it.

it is a good point

[red]

i find it pretty funny that we had all these players shooting their mouths off last night about how the owners were trying to screw them. and today, most of the reps are saying they just want time to read through and understand what they might be agreeing to.

i still don't really get it. the owners had goodell negotiating for them, the players hired de smith to do the same for them. those two men came to an agreement. goodell tells the owners its done, the owners vote on it because their negotiator did his best. de smith turns to the players with the same stuff, and the players are bitching because they didn't get all they want.. do you think all the owners had to have copies of the agreement and they all had to go through the whole thing with a fine tooth comb?

thats why its called a negotiation, although i wouldn't expect many of those meatheads to understand the meaning of the word

[smuggler]

With how far under the cap some teams have been in recent years, it seems like players will definitely be making more money with this new deal. Cincy is 35 million under the cap. Tampa is 50 million under. Once this deal gets done, both teams will be forced to spend more than $20mil more this season, and can't fall below about $110mil from here on out.

The owners should be happy, because it keeps teams from bottom-feeding on revenue shares like the Panthers, and makes the league more competitive and the product better.

[red]

one nfl executive that has attended todays meeting where teams learn the new rules said that that "the only thing players didn't get was someone else to play for them"

[vince]

i find it pretty funny that we had all these players shooting their mouths off last night about how the owners were trying to screw them. and today, most of the reps are saying they just want time to read through and understand what they might be agreeing to.

i still don't really get it. the owners had goodell negotiating for them, the players hired de smith to do the same for them. those two men came to an agreement. goodell tells the owners its done, the owners vote on it because their negotiator did his best. de smith turns to the players with the same stuff, and the players are bitching because they didn't get all they want.. do you think all the owners had to have copies of the agreement and they all had to go through the whole thing with a fine tooth comb?

thats why its called a negotiation, although i wouldn't expect many of those meatheads to understand the meaning of the word

The Dude speaks the truth.

[vince]

More proof the players' attorneys are doing nothing but making a power play.

http://twitter.com/#!/jharrison9292

NFLPA* issues warning on website that’s trying to reconstitute a union

Posted by Mike Florio on July 22, 2011, 1:56 PM EDT

In the opinion of NFLPA* lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, it can take as long as two weeks to reconstitute the union. In the opinion of NFL lawyer Bob Batterman, it can take as few as two hours.

The truth is somewhere in the middle, much closer to two hours than 312.

But someone out there is trying to take matters into their own hands, setting up a website aimed at harvesting signatures for the reconstitution of a union. And the NFLPA* is scrambling to keep players from using it.

The NFLPA* has sent the following e-mail to all agents: “We have received information from players indicating that they are being referred to a website – nflvr.com. The website is asking players to vote to reconstitute as a union and that the players can use the site to facilitate that action. Please be advised that this site is not affiliated with either the NFL or the NFLPA. You should ignore this site and advise your players to do so as well.”

Based on available online information, the site was created on Thursday by Austin Jordan of Roanoke, Virginia.

The fact that the NFLPA* felt compelled to point out the existence of the site — and to encourage players not to use it — suggests that the NFLPA* had reason to believe that players were thinking about using it. (Or maybe were actually using it.)

The truth is that, if 50 percent of the players plus one vote to create a union, they’ll be a union. It doesn’t matter whether the NFLPA* organizes it; anyone can. (Indeed, there was talk back in April and May of a group of free agents trying to unionize separate and apart from the NFL.)

It’ll be interesting to see whether there are any players out there who want to push this thing along — and who perhaps feel that the NFLPA* Executive Committee and board of player representatives are keeping them from voting on the final proposal — will register.

UPDATE: Last night, Steelers linebacker James Harrison re-tweeted the link to the site.

[smuggler]

The Rooster abides. I am at work. Has anyone been to the site?

[vince]

Yeah I went to it. Here's a portion of what it says...

Due to recent conversation in between us and George Atallah of the NFLPA via Twitter, we have removed some content of our site. We learned that the NFLPA is not interested in doing voting on our site in order to recertify the NFL Player's Union once an agreement has been made.

Is this about lawyers padding their bills and trying to gain notoriety?
Does the Pope shit in the woods?