The National Football League and its collective bargaining agreement with the players union has been a model, which other sports have tried to emulate. But as NFL officials gathered in Detroit during the week of Super Bowl XL, it became obvious that negotiations for a new contract are not going well.
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue says, “I don't know whether we'll get something done by the beginning of the league year. I don't know if we'll get something done by the end of March right now, because it has been one step forward, and at least several steps backward on a lot of different issues.”
“When we meet, Paul likes to say that he believes that we take one step forward, and two steps back.” says Union Chief Gene Upshaw. “I don't agree with that. I think we take one step forward and five steps back, because we're further apart now than we were when we started. And for anyone to believe that we're close, is just not reality, because that's just not where we are.”
The league begins a new year on March 3rd, and marks the beginning of the last year of the labor deal in which player compensation is governed by a salary cap. Without an extension, 2007 would be an uncapped season.
“We're saying that our percentage, has to be, the first number, has to be a six. that's all of it, that's everything, that's local revenues, that's everything.” Says Upshaw.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Tagliabue admits, their next contract will not be a slam dunk. “We do have serious issues to resolve. I do think that there needs to be, some more outreach and more reality on both sides as to where the middle is, and I don't think I said I was optimistic, I'm not optimistic, but that's what a difficult negotiation usually details.”
The last time there was an NFL players strike was 1987, which lead to owners conducting three games with strike-replacement players. Gene Upshaw says there is no chance of strike before 2008, but unless there is an extension, 2006 will be the last season with a salary cap.
Says the Commissioner, “I don't think that negotiations are going very well right now, I guess that's how I would put it. There needs to be an additional dose of reality on both sides of the table. I think that to some degree positions are hardening when they shouldn't be hardening.”
The union claims payrolls have been restricted, due to the current salary cap structure.
“What's keeping us apart is our percentage, and it has to begin with a 6. When you’re not paying your fair share on players, I have a problem with it, and other members of the union have a problem with it. And every player in the National Football League has a problem with it, and that's what we have to address, and that's what we are addressing,” says Upshaw. “We just were able to get a 24-billion dollar contract from the broadcast partners, and I know if you paid that kind of money, you bought prime rib, and they don't want to see hot dogs.”
Upshaw seemed to draw a line in the sand, saying, “Either they want to have a system, or they don't want to have one, but either way, either way, if we get through the uncapped year, and we go to the uncapped year, we won't come back.”
Upshaw says he will do what he has to do to protect the players rights, even if it means decertification of the union. That way, he says the owners won’t have a union to lock out. “They have to have a union to lock us out, and we will not be a union if we get to 2008,” he says.
So what happens next is anyone’s guess, but right now, the players union and the owners are not on the same page. The bottom line is that league revenues have skyrocketed, and the players union wants its members to have a bigger share.
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