The NFL labor talks may have regressed during the extension of the collective bargaining agreement.
The coming season seems increasingly in jeopardy even though the NFL and NFL Players Association had extended talks to Friday. Both sides spent the week entrenching and slinging so much blame that it will be even harder to make a deal. There have been more smokescreens than a Foghat concert.
If the two sides miraculously come to terms on a new deal by 5?p.m. Friday, it will be the greatest long-shot achievement since the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. One side must cave, and that just doesn’t seem likely. Another extension would be pointless considering both sides squandered the extra week. It increasingly looks like DeMaurice Smith and the union will decertify, the owners will respond with a lockout and the summer will be spent in courtrooms. By September, both sides will renew discussions, but the past week will make them even more reluctant to concede.
At best, a partial season looms. The owners always figured there would be an entire year without football, so that seems more likely.
What a waste.
The only reported compromise this week was the rookie scale. Big deal. Sometimes when talks are at a stalemate, each side will agree to a small issue just to get things going. But if that’s the only progress made, then a new deal is only 2 percent done.
The owners figure they can outlast the players, that the NFLPA will feel pressure from its ranks by October. They’re probably right. Certainly there will be plenty of divisiveness when the players start missing paychecks.
Oddly, the players seem even more determined not to play 18 games no matter the cost. That’s really the key issue for the owners because two more regular-season games might pay for the financial differences. If not, the players’ suggestion to add more Thursday night games certainly will.
The players’ problem is they don’t trust the owners’ financial statements. And the owners don’t want to open their financial ledgers completely. The refusal breeds skepticism over just how much they’re making, but Redskins owner Dan Snyder and his brethren have a right to restricted access.
Aside from Green Bay, teams are private businesses and are entitled to secrecy. They don’t need competitors knowing who’s vulnerable because it’s a liability for free agency. Teams will know Team A can’t truly compete for players.
Teams understandably don’t want the NFLPA second-guessing their expenditures like some overseeing partner. Maybe if they spent less on the electric bill they could pay players more. That’s micromanaging.
The players need to trust the teams’ financial situations more, while the owners need to show a little more of the money. There’s a compromise somewhere, but neither is looking for one.
There’s still a chance for resolution, as dim as it seems. Deadlines do that. But Smith tweeted that he’ll give players an update three hours before Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline. That smells like no deal. Then again, it could be a meaningless ploy.
Guess you can’t trust anyone anymore.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
