I don't want to sound too grim, but the way things are looking right now there will not be any NFL football in 2011.
With the Packers books pretty clearly showing that even small market teams are making a profit, any cries of poverty from the owners will be met with snickers and jeers from the Players Union. From the player perspective, it makes no sense to take a pay cut if the owners are still generating big profits, and it makes no sense to play two additional regular season games (making a season 18 games) for no additional pay.
For me, the players have all the leverage in this negotiation, and the owners (31 of which refuse to disclose their books, including Jim Irsay of the Colts) come off looking collectively like distrustful whiners with something to hide. I also think people like Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder are just dumb enough to take this thing all the way to a lockout in 2011.
It's sad, but that's how things look right now.
Owners, in general, won't be hurt too much by a lockout. These people are multimillionaires, and the salaries most everyday people make are the kind of cash these owners blow their nose with. But, as Dan Pompeii tells us, the people who will really hurt if there is a lockout are NFL scouts.
No one is going to get screwed in a lockout more than scouts, however. Twenty-four of the 32 teams have lockout language in their scouts’ contracts that will call for pay cuts between 25 and 50 percent. But unlike virtually every other department in an NFL organization, the scouting department will have to carry on as usual. For scouts, it will be the same job for less pay.
Fortunately, some teams plan to pay their scouts regardless of whether there is a lockout or not.
Among the teams that have not asked for pay cuts from scouts are the Colts, Patriots, Saints and Seahawks. Bravo to them
Maybe this is why the Colts have no plans to give Reggie Wayne a contract extension. Maybe the money Reggie wants is going to the scouts in the event of a lock-out. Who knows. It is good that the Colts are taking care of their own. Scouting is the lifeblood of the Colts organization. If a lockout happens, the team needs to keep its scouting talent on the payroll for as long as the labor agreement is unresolved.