Football, Contracts, and the Route to 18 Games
July 29, 2010 | Insider News
by Arthur Latz-Hall
When they hear the word ‘union’ most people think of autoworkers, maybe teachers, but probably not football players. However, some of the most of important parts of the contract between a NFL football player and the team’s management are determined by player’s union negotiations over the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The CBA sets the general minimum contract for all players in the league. Players are still able to negotiate a contract with their team, but must do so within the CBA restrictions.
The CBA is an important tool. If individual contracts had to be negotiated with each of the NFL’s nearly 1,700 players over basics on issues such as how many games are played in a season fans would never see a kick-off.
In 2008, owners exercised their right to let the CBA expire at the end of the 2010 season. Thus, under the current CBA, 2010 is a “Final League Year,” which means there is no salary cap, there are substantial additional restrictions on player free agency, and reductions in player benefits. Essentially, for the 2010 season, some contract provisions become more negotiable while other contract provisions become less negotiable.
The expiration also means that negotiations are heating up for a new CBA. In addition to salary caps and minimums under discussion, the numbers of games in a season has been put in play for negotiations as management looks to go from16 to 18 games. The question of if we’ll see 18 games now turns whether management can convince the player’s union in the new rounds of CBA negotiation.
Comments (2)
little confused about implications of having some parts of contracts more/less negotiable by expiration of the CBA. Plus I’ve had this idea that players really don’t like having CBA until/unless they stick around for a few years in the league and start to become concerned about injury, retirement.
The CBA expires March of 2011 and it’s this year (the 2010 season), the Final League Year, where there are changes to the flexibility of the agreement. For contracts negotiated in this year, things become more flexible in that salary cap is lifted. However, things become less flexible in that in that players need 6 instead of the normal 4 years of experience to become unrestricted free agents.
After the Final League Year it’s back to the drawing board for the CBA and the results could be more or less restrictive for players than the last CAB.
A player’s feelings on the CBA probably (though I’m just guessing) depend on where they are at in their career. If you are Tom Brady looking for a higher salary you wouldn’t be a fan of the salary cap. On the other hand, if you aren’t a great player, the salary minimum might be good for you. And, you are of course right, as players get older the retirement benefits become important.