Post by lazarus on Mar 2, 2006 13:49:37 GMT -5
NFL owners cut off talks with players' union
NEW YORK - It appears as though it will become "Bloody Thursday" in the NFL.
NFL owners unanimously voted to end talks with the players' union on a labor contract extension Thursday morning, league commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced.
The deadline to extend the current Collective Bargaining Agreement ends at 12:01 a.m. Friday, when free agency begins. With no new deal in place, Thursday could see a glut of players being cut.
"It's as dire as dire can be," Tagliabue said.
The current labor contract runs through the 2007 season, but the salary cap disappears after 2006, making it critical to reach a new agreement.
NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw has stated that players would not agree to a cap again if it is allowed to expire.
It also is considered critical to have a new agreement in place so agents and team officials know how to structure contracts moving forward.
If there is no extension, the salary cap is expected to be about $95 million this season and feature raises after 2006 in a long-term deal would be limited to 30 percent. A deal could mean a cap of $10 million or higher.
During Super Bowl week, Upshaw threatened to decertify the union and take the league to court if stalled labor talks did not yield an agreement by early March.
Decertifying would involve disbanding the union and going to antitrust court to ask for a set of rules under which the NFL would operate.
The union decertified to end the 1987 strike and played without a CBA until 1992. The court eventually ruled in favor of the union, leading to the current deal with free agency and a salary cap, which took effect in 1993.
Since then, labor negotiations have been amicable due to a strong personal relationship between Tagliabue and Upshaw. Unlike the other major professional sports leagues, the NFL and the union have traditionally extended bargaining agreements long before expiration.
The sides have reached agreements on a number of issues, including changing the formula for the amount of money to go to the players from "designated gross revenues" primarily television and ticket sales, which includes nearly all the money a team generates.
NEW YORK - It appears as though it will become "Bloody Thursday" in the NFL.
NFL owners unanimously voted to end talks with the players' union on a labor contract extension Thursday morning, league commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced.
The deadline to extend the current Collective Bargaining Agreement ends at 12:01 a.m. Friday, when free agency begins. With no new deal in place, Thursday could see a glut of players being cut.
"It's as dire as dire can be," Tagliabue said.
The current labor contract runs through the 2007 season, but the salary cap disappears after 2006, making it critical to reach a new agreement.
NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw has stated that players would not agree to a cap again if it is allowed to expire.
It also is considered critical to have a new agreement in place so agents and team officials know how to structure contracts moving forward.
If there is no extension, the salary cap is expected to be about $95 million this season and feature raises after 2006 in a long-term deal would be limited to 30 percent. A deal could mean a cap of $10 million or higher.
During Super Bowl week, Upshaw threatened to decertify the union and take the league to court if stalled labor talks did not yield an agreement by early March.
Decertifying would involve disbanding the union and going to antitrust court to ask for a set of rules under which the NFL would operate.
The union decertified to end the 1987 strike and played without a CBA until 1992. The court eventually ruled in favor of the union, leading to the current deal with free agency and a salary cap, which took effect in 1993.
Since then, labor negotiations have been amicable due to a strong personal relationship between Tagliabue and Upshaw. Unlike the other major professional sports leagues, the NFL and the union have traditionally extended bargaining agreements long before expiration.
The sides have reached agreements on a number of issues, including changing the formula for the amount of money to go to the players from "designated gross revenues" primarily television and ticket sales, which includes nearly all the money a team generates.
