It’s a brief timeout.
The NFL and NFL Players Association extended their labor talks 24 hours. The owners upped their offer enough on Thursday to stop the players union from decertifying and turning the collective bargaining agreement standoff into an anti-trust case.
Essentially, the owners blinked. But the players didn’t win.
The extension likely just will result in a longer delay because there are too many major issues to decide in one day. Maybe both sides will continue talks for a week or so, but it will be enough to make a deal if each side really wants to do so. And they obviously do or else there wouldn’t be this delay.
Does this mean the NFL offseason is saved? Not necessarily. A deal’s not a deal until both sides approve, and certainly some NFL owners and players will be unhappy. A needed majority probably will approve a brokered deal, but there’s no guarantee the two sides can agree in one day or one week. It may take a real September deadline — when everyone will start losing money — before a deal is made.
The delay stems from the NFLPA’s victory on Wednesday, when U.S. District Judge David Doty denied owners access to $4.5 billion in TV money. That represented their lockout war chest, and the decision was a game-changer.
Suddenly, the owners became more vulnerable. Those with titanic stadium debt such as Dallas’ Jerry Jones can’t afford to miss games any more than the players who can’t miss one game check. And where Jones goes, so goes the NFL since he’s the league’s most powerful owner.
The three key issues are splitting $1 billion in revenues, expanding the season to 18 games and increasing health care coverage for former players in retirement.
Many players swear they won’t approve two more regular-season games, but they will in the end. Two more games pay for the difference in salaries and health care costs. It’s not a bad trade in the end. Players get two things they want, while owners get the biggest negotiating point — two extra games on the schedule.
Certainly, players are justifiably worried because playing more games means more injuries. Twenty percent of players ended last season on injured reserve. But more games certainly will lead to bigger rosters, which mean a player’s total amount of time on the field doesn’t increase as much.
Most players no longer play every snap like they did through the 1980s. Many play less than two-thirds of the game. Adding 50 to 80 snaps to the regular-season total while reducing 20 to 30 snaps in the preseason makes two more games a nominal difference overall. It’s certainly not enough to derail a new contract. Plus, players should get two more game checks, much more than the tipping money they get for preseason contests.
Eventually, there will be a deal. It may not come in a day or anytime soon, but at least both sides discovered they can compromise.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
