NFLPA To Decertify By March 3rd

[Mr. Flopnuts]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6161468

Absent a last-minute agreement that no one around football expects, the NFL Players Association plans to decertify by Thursday in an effort to pre-empt an owners-generated lockout, according to multiple league and union sources.

The collective bargaining agreement says the NFLPA in effect must wait six months to decertify if it does it after the collective bargaining agreement expires. It expires at 11:59 p.m. Thursday night.

If the union decertifies, it is no longer a union, and the National Labor Relations Board loses its hold over the NFLPA. The owners are expected to claim the decertification is a sham and challenge it in the NLRB.

But the NFLPA is poised to act this week before it is locked out. It already has obtained unanimous approval from players across the league to decertify, a process it undertook throughout last season and the union's executive committee reaffirmed that vote this past Tuesday to empower NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith to take this action.

The primary reason for decertification would be to file for an injunction that, if granted, would prevent the owners from locking out the players. NFLPA officials and players believe that this could be the only hope to have a full NFL season next year. Furthermore, decertifying as a union prior to the expiration of the CBA would allow NFL players to seek injunctive relief and commence anti-trust action against owners in front of U.S. District Court Judge David Doty, who has had jurisdiction over the current labor agreement since 1993. Owners have attempted unsuccessfully to have Doty removed from jurisdiction and strategically want the CBA to expire to effectively eliminate his authority, a source said.

The NFL and NFLPA are scheduled to meet with federal mediator George Cohen one more time on Tuesday, yet after seven days of meetings last week, Cohen said significant differences still remain.

Commissioner Roger Goodell met Friday morning with the majority of the league's ownership labor committee at the offices of the Indianapolis Colts, a league official has confirmed, briefing the 10-man group on labor negotiations.

Nine of the 10 members of the owners' labor committee were in attendance on Friday: co-chairman Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers; Mike Brown of the Cincinnati Bengals; Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs; Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys; Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots; Mark Murphy of the Green Bay Packers; John Mara of the New York Giants; Art Rooney II of the Pittsburgh Steelers; and Dean Spanos of the San Diego Chargers.

Co-chairman Pat Bowlen of the Denver Broncos was absent but an official believed he participated via phone conference.

In addition to being updated by Goodell and his negotiating team, the committee was expected to honor Cohen's request to assess their positions on the "important core issues" following the past week of mediated negotiations.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Donger

Would you argue that an individual player can have less, equal or greater impact on, say, an MLB team than an NFL team?

In other words, is the NFL more of a "team" sport than MLB?

Some players have an outsized influence on their game. I would equate a good QB to a little more than having two good starting pitchers. (an ace, and maybe a solid #3) After taking those 3+ players out, the sports are comparable as an interchangable team game.

What some dont seem to realize is that in addition to holding back the large markets, the cap also depresses player salaries. You cant take the cap off and assume all those linemen, defensive backs, etc will make the same amount of money afterwards. The price of top talent would go way up. It would cost a whole hell of a lot of money in a post-cap world to build a defense and give your QB something to work with, perhaps to the point where you cant even say "just draft well" because maybe you wont be able to afford a good team under any circumstance.

Professional basketball by contrast is pretty close to an individual sport. You get two really good players and you are pretty well set, the spare parts don't cost much.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Donger

Would you argue that an individual player can have less, equal or greater impact on, say, an MLB team than an NFL team?

In other words, is the NFL more of a "team" sport than MLB?

individual players clearly have a more dramatic impact in MLB

If for no other reason than just because of the sheer numbers. There are 5 players on the floor in MLB vrs 11 in football. But the game is completely different ... players in the NBA play both offense and defense. In the NBA having a couple great players is enough. In the NFL you need to be solid in every aspect of the game.

The Chargers have very good QB but still lost their season because of special teams. A great QB won't survive long with a crap offensive line. etc

a franchise tag in the NBA would be HUGE because it would lock up the 1 superstar you need to be competitive. In the NFL the franchise tag is helpful but still just a piece. Several NFL teams have used their franchise tag on Kickers.

[Mr. Laz]

MLB World Series Winner
YR Team Payroll rank

00 Yankees - 01
01 Dbacks - 08
02 Angels - 15
03 Marlins - 25
04 Red Sox - 02
05 White Sox - 13
06 Cardinals - 11
07 Red Sox - 02
08 Phillies - 12
09 Yankees - 01
===========
Overall ------ 09

only the Marlins in 2003 were not in the top 15 in payroll ... overall average is 9.

[chris]

I hope the NFL is successful in blocking the decertification via legal means. Every time the union doesn't get what it wants, it tries to decertify. (Comparable to WI Senators leaving town when they can't get what they want in the legislative process.)

If that fails, and If the union does decertify, I hope the owners break the union much as the NHL broke that union.

[BossChief]

This is a disappointing conclusion.

All they need to do is keep things the same with the exception of a rookie cap IMO.

The overall competitiveness off the NFL is better than it has ever been during my lifetime. The way things are, any team could contend in 2-3 years no matter how bad they were...just look at our team 2008 and now...or many other examples.

Greed is gonna kill the owners in the long run over what they could have brought in by not being so greedy and being willing to compromise.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Donger

Excellent explanation. Thank you. But, doesn't the "franchise tag" kind of negate free agency?

Only for one player, and only for one year at a time. The rules on the franchise tag make it very expensive to keep using it. Here's an article talking about what happens if you go to franchise a player for the third time in a row:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post...-franchise-tag

That can quickly make for an outlandish salary that puts a strain on a team's cap budget.

[bowener]

Originally Posted by Laz

If the salary cap disappears completely in the NFL you can bet that the even distribution of T.V. money will quickly follow.

This.

I can't imagine Jerry Jones saying that he is willing to share the ad revenue from the 5 Monday/Sunday night games his Cowboys seem to be given every season. They were awful this year, but I bet they have more night games than 80% of the league next year.

[spida_man23]

so these people dont understand... if there is no football next yr...people are goin get very mad and angry... next thing u know people are disapearing and every bodys goin go crazy...yep....thats how its goin down