NFL owners have blinked on one of the remaining key issues, as they have conceded to not require right-of-first-refusal clauses on 2011 free agents, ESPN is reporting.
This was rumored to be the sticking point at the close of talks on Friday. The players were unwilling to grant NFL teams an extra right-of-first-refusal for this year’s free-agent class, since many of those free agents were already delayed and restricted under last year’s uncapped rules.
The lawyers will continue to work through the weekend, and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith has indicated that he will likely be continuing to speak with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell over the weekend.
If the two sides can resolve their remaining issues, the schedule could move very quickly next week. The two sides have a scheduled meeting on Tuesday with mediator Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, and the owners have a scheduled meeting on Thursday in Atlanta. Thursday’s meeting could serve as the platform for the owners to ratify the agreement, if the remaining issues have been resolved before then.
This past week saw the resolution of some of the key issues that have been holding up a resolution. The salary cap for 2011 will be $120 million per team, and there is now agreement on a rookie wage system. Compromises to the proposed $120 million salary cap have been made to help teams who have lower revenue, ESPN is reporting.
In addition to the cap, teams will be held to a per-team minimum cash payroll of 89 percent of the cap, as long as the league-wide cash guarantee is 99 percent of the cap. This sets the per-team floor at $106.8 million in 2011, but across the league, the teams must average 99 percent, or $118.8 million per team.
If an individual team fails to reach the per-team floor by the end of the season, they would be required to distribute the different to the players on the team. It’s unclear what mechanism would be in place to enforce the league-wide average.
General managers across the league are pulling out their calculators and spreadsheets to start to figure out the implications of the free agency rules. Once a new labor agreement is reached, there is going to be a compressed timeline for free agent activity. It is being reported that teams will have 72 hours to try to re-sign their own free agents, and then a period for veteran free agent signings and undrafted rookie free agents.
With the new salary floor combined with a new rookie wage scale that will limit the size of contracts for the incoming draft class of 2011, there will be a lot of money to spend this season. This is combined with a larger-than-normal free agent class due to the restrictions of last year being an uncapped year. This should benefit established veterans. And the teams that are best prepared to spend wisely will most benefit going into the 2011 season.
