The Economic Truth Behind the NFL CBA

Much discussion this NFL offseason has centered on any potential changes in player salaries under the salary cap as dictated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Some false reports by media members, in addition to inaccurate statements by various NFL owners, have resulted in mistaken claims that player salaries are going to remain “flat” under the new NFL CBA.

For clarity and to correct these inaccuracies, Pro Player Insiders has uncovered the economic truth about the deal. In a May 21 letter sent to all NFL players and NFLPA-certified contract advisors, union president Domonique Foxworth outlined some of the hard, key facts including:

-The amount of cash spent on players in salaries and benefits under the new CBA has gone up to nearly 55 percent of All Revenue in 2011. This is a higher percentage of All Revenue spent on players in cash than in any year under the 2006 CBA.

-Players were paid more than $160 million per team in cash and benefits in 2011, which is well above the $142.4 million in cap plus benefits for 2011.

-The amount of player salaries guaranteed in 2011 increased from about 50 percent in 2010 to about 57 percent in 2011. This is the highest percentage of guaranteed compensation the NFL players have ever had.

In real cash dollars, which go into the players’ pockets, the new CBA so far has provided a higher percentage of revenue, a greater percentage of guaranteed money and more actual dollars than in any year of the 2006 CBA. The new CBA emphasizes and requires cash spending by clubs, as opposed to just salary cap dollars.

Additionally, with the NFL having now negotiated record new television deals—plus new stadiums due to be constructed in the future—players will receive much higher salaries and benefits under the new CBA than under the league’s proposal to players in March 2011. That proposal was referred to by NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith as “the worst deal in the history of sports.”

The owners’ proposal in March 2011 offered neither protection against the imposition of an 18-game season nor league-wide cash spending guarantees. By contrast, the new CBA prohibits an 18-game season without union consent and provides the first league-wide cash spending guarantees in NFL history.

The offer the owners made before the lockout began was much worse economically for the players than the deal the players were able to get in the 2011 CBA. The players will reap even greater economic benefits when the new television contracts kick in, starting in 2014.

Read Foxworth’s letter here:

Foxworth_5.21.12 PlayersAgents

And read an in-depth analysis of the 2011 CBA below, which also was sent to all players and certified agents May 21.

First Year CBA Analysis

By Khalil Garriott