Must be some administrative error that resulted in the NFL and players getting different drafts of the proposed settlement agreement.
The players’ board of directors ended their meeting tonight without voting on the settlement agreement that the owners ratified at their meeting. Executive Director of the NFLPA DeMaurice Smith, prior to tonight’s board meeting sent the following message to the players:
“As you know the Owners have ratified their proposal to settle our differences. It is my understanding they are forwarding it to us.
As you may have heard they apparently approved a supplemental revenue sharing proposal. Obviously, we have not been a part of those discussions.
As you know from yesterday, issues that need to be collectively bargained remain open, other issues such as workers compensation, economic issues and end of deal terms remain unresolved.
There is no agreement between the NFL and the players at this time.”
NFL owners ratified a settlement agreement Thursday night by a vote of 31-0, with the Oakland Raiders abstaining. However, the version of the agreement the owners approved has not been agreed to by the players.
Roger Goodell and Jeff Pash in a press conference after the owners meeting, described some of the specifics of the agreement their side approved. Some of those specifics of their version of the settlement are:
The agreement is a 10 year deal, running through the end of the 2020 season.
The players receive 48 percent of the revenue in the first year of the deal. The salary cap for this year will be $120 million per team, with a per-team minimum of 89 percent of the cap, as long as the league as a whole spends 99 percent of the cap, or $3.8 billion across the league.
Veterans will earn free agency after their fourth season. Rookie contracts are limited to four years with a team option for a fifth year. Rookie salaries will be lowered with a cap on team spending for rookies.
On the player health and safety front, training camps will start later and teams will not be permitted to run full contact “two-a-day” practices. In addition, the limit on off season organized team activities (or OTA’s, as they are commonly known) will be reduced from 14 to 10.
The NFL also announced that the Hall of Fame game, scheduled for August 7 between the Chicago Bears and the St. Louis Rams, will be cancelled.
