Forget losing 2011 NFL games to a lockout — it’s not happening.
Oh, the new labor agreement surely will be a late August 2011 deal, but the recent NFL Players Association’s move to go after the NFL’s $4 billion lockout war chest via TV revenues shows both sides are inching towards a new deal.
The NFLPA’s complaint against NFL owners — filed Wednesday before a special master overseeing the labor dispute — claims the league negotiated alone with TV networks for money that would essentially carry them through a lost season. The NFL counters it’s merely a loan that shouldn’t be split. The NFLPA says it’s entitled to a hefty share as part of its revenue sharing. The NFL says …
Well, this is what judges and rich lawyers are paid to resolve. More importantly, the claim shows both sides are readying for a showdown when owners could literally lock out players from training facilities in March 2011. Such early sparring is a very good thing.
Neither side wants to miss a season. There are billions of dollars to be lost. Both sides are fighting now rather than traditional last-minute talks to avoid losing regular-season games.
The lockout will surely begin in March when it means very little. You think Albert Haynesworth will be banging on the weight room door? The only people who will really miss March workouts, April minicamps and May OTAs are new coaches desperate to teach players their system. Everybody else is on extended vacation. Most players will work out elsewhere.
The draft still happens. They can even have rookie minicamp because incoming players haven’t signed contracts and are thus not part of the union lockout.
There will be plenty of posturing the whole time, but the public won’t care until late July when training camps fail to open. That’s when things get serious. For one month, both sides will try to leverage public opinion into the billion-dollar labor agreement.
The good part is they’re starting the dance now. That’s huge. It will save weeks when talks spill into late August and threaten the actual season. Nobody cares about preseason games, but miss regular-season openers and things get bloody.
Ultimately, the NFL and players association will agree in August 2011 to sacrifice only a couple preseason games that no one wants anyway. But that’s only thanks to the legal maneuvers starting now.
Who thought court briefs could be so sexy?
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
