Professor Blue: The CBA - How We Got Here
by LovinBlue on Mar 16, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
in Colts Analysis
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PrintWhile we have made much of the player-related activity in the past several weeks, we have largely left that pretty pink elephant in the room alone. This article series is aimed at summarizing what has been happening with the business side of the NFL, why and what's coming. As there are MANY issues, and because I'm not inside any of the actual meetings, the series cannot cover every issue, nor can it go very deep on any issue. My aim is to highlight the key points and prompt a little discussion.
If there's an angle you're particularly interested in, feel free to note it and I'll try to do the necessary research.
First, a couple definitions:
CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement): a labor contract between management (NFL owners) and union (NFL players). The CBA outlines rules regarding drug testing, off-season workouts, how free agency works, and - most importantly - revenue sharing.
NFLPA (NFL Players Association): essentially, the players' union. The NFLPA has an Executive Committee to manage and transact its business. DeMaurice Smith is the Executive Director (head honcho) of the NFLPA, and Kevin Mawae was just re-elected to be President of the Executive Committee. Jeff Saturday is on the Executive Committee.
The agreement (CBA) under which the players are currently playing was signed on March 8, 2006, and was originally set to expire after the 2012 season. However ARTICLE LVIII, Section 3, allowed for either the owners or the players to terminate the final 1 or 2 years of the agreement, accelerating its expiration.
On May 20, 2008, the owners opted out of the agreement, which gave them two years to come to a new agreement or face an uncapped year for 2010 and a possible lockout for 2011. The reasons cited for opting out were (comments in parentheses mine):
1. High labor costs (read: minimum wage requirements)
2. Problems with the rookie pool (read: unproven rookies get more than veterans)
3. The league's inability, through the interpretation of the courts, to recoup bonuses of players who subsequently breach their contract or refuse to perform (see: Vick, Michael)
Some resources for those who are interested in diving deeper before I get to my next article:
- NFL Players Association Web site
- Articles written by Liz Mullen, who covered the NFLPA Annual Meeting in Maui
- The current CBA
- Q&A from the league's perspective
So before I move ahead... what are your thoughts? Is this topic interesting? Are there specific areas you'd like to hear about?
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I'm just worried the most
About no football in 2011. Losing the cap is already a disaster, I think it will weaken competitive balance and the overall quality of the league.
Insert Clever Statement Here
Lessons of History
The NFL would be wise to look at their own rise to prominence. Football’s popularity was accelerated when MLB went on strike. I also worry about the loss of the cap, though with men like Irsay and Newsome strong advocates of the cap returning I feel a bit more comfortable.
Ultimately, both sides are stiffing their true bosses: us. We are the ones who really pay their salaries and keep their companies in business. In an economic recession, we are witnessing a fight between millionaires and billionaries and the only ones getting screwed are the fans.
by 2ndBlueGeneration on Mar 16, 2010 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Great topic
And nice to get the definitions/facts straight first :-)
"It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's three minutes left in the AFC Championship Game and you're down by three to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year. Yeah, it's a great job until that point." - Jim Sorgi
This is great!
Up until reading this, I didn’t really understand a lick of this CBA crap except “maybe no football after next year”. Now it’s starting to make sense. Keep em comin’!
PSN ID: etid5353
Currently playing: COD:MW2
Let's throw some frags :)
More? Yes, please.
Careful what you wish for... a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take everything you have.
Girl, you posted this at 5 am?!
Anyway, great job for this quick recap of what’s going on with the CBA.
Y’all just do not fit the picture, turn your widescreen on
If you thinkin’ I’ma quit before I die, dream on
~Drake "Over"
now that I am a fancy writer
I have the ability to schedule my posts :-)
How can you not love a team that does this?
did they give you a fancy hat?
you really need a fancy hat
Careful what you wish for... a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take everything you have.
Wow! yeah... that's... uhh... really big!
;)
Careful what you wish for... a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take everything you have.
It's all so complicated,
props to you for getting into it.
My only thought is they better get it together, life without football would kill me.
"You can't defend the perfect throw, what can I say?" Peyton quoting Marino
"As I grow older, the list of people who can kiss my ass grows longer"-Ancient Hoosier Proverb.
It would kill all of us for sure.
"I am in favor of censorship ‐ not against what is supposed to be sexy or dirty, but against what is idiotic." -Jean Renoir
Random fact of the week from the empty void that is my mind: Butler is going to go to the sweet 16. Whatever happens after that is anyone's guess.
Indy would be the big loser...
…if there were a lock out. It seems the city has done everything right to get the shot of hosting a Super Bowl, but a lockout would undoubtedly throw that arrangement out the window.
I know there are people out there who think the results would be similar to Jacksonville, or maybe Detroit, hosting the big one. But the city has a lot to prove, I think, on the international stage, and despite the god awful winter, would probably do a good job.
Do I think the Super Bowl in Indy is weird? Definitely. Do I think the city would be shafted if there were a lockout? Definitely.
I've always considered writing the most hateful kind of work ... I suspect its a bit like fucking, which is only fun for amateurs. -Hunter Thompson
by RockyRippleColtsFan on Mar 16, 2010 2:40 PM EDT reply actions
Definitely a worthy subject
Kudos to LovinBlue for tackling an important but endlessly complicated topic.
Specifically, I’d be interested in the most recent updates on this undercurrent in the current stalemate: the owners’ interest in having the players discount the amount of revenue pooled for distribution to the players as salaries to offset capital expenditures the owners have undertaken. If I understand this correctly—and I think that it is a SIGNIFICANT driver of the owners’ desire to lower sharing revenue with the players—this is, say, Jerry Jones saying, listen, I had to put up all this money to build my new stadium and you, players, should take less because of my risk and/or debt service.
I will freely admit I am stauchly on the side of the players. Still, trying to be objective, this strikes me as tremendous overreaching by the owners. The NFL is the most (maybe the only) profitable professional sports league, by far. Now, the owners want to reduce the players’ piece of the pie further, for risks (and, more to the point, astronomical rewards) attendant to only the owners. Does Kroger ask its unions to take less because it built the new Nora store? Certainly not directly it doesn’t. So, I’d be interested to see what you can uncover on where this undercurrent is flowing and whether it poses an impediment to the 2011 season.
My pro-union stance would evaporate if I could sell the union out in exchange for a stud LT to block for Peyton this fall.
The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars, but in ourselves.
Thanks for the comment, Coltsfan58
My next post (tomorrow) will tackle the topic of what the owners’ primary gripe, specifically around the players taking less due to large capital investments like stadia.
How can you not love a team that does this?
Great job, LB.
And I lol’d at the pic of the Commish.
"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007
He looks very hungry.
"I am in favor of censorship ‐ not against what is supposed to be sexy or dirty, but against what is idiotic." -Jean Renoir
Random fact of the week from the empty void that is my mind: Butler is going to go to the sweet 16. Whatever happens after that is anyone's guess.
Please research revenue sharing, amongst teams.
Lots of people have talked about the agreements for revenue sharing between the players and the owners, but another major issue (and one that could be more detrimental to the Colts) is revenue sharing amongst the owners.
Specifically:
1. What is the agreement in place now.
2. What does Indy get from this.
3. What are they proposing moving forward.
cba
I realize that the rookie cap is a big issue. The thing is that the players will not give in unless they can be guaranteed that money and/or get something else in return. There are a couple of issue I would be interested in.
Specifically:
1. How much money do some big market teams give up through revenue sharing and what do small market teams get?
2. How big of an issue is revenue sharing in this problem?
3. What percentage of revenue do the players get now?
4. What is the floor in the salary cap structure and how many teams are being forced to spend more than they want?
by strandedincarolina on Mar 16, 2010 4:50 PM EDT reply actions
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