Are You Ready For Some Football?

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

by: Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

It’s only a matter of time.

Sources from both sides of the NFL labor negotiations are saying that a new deal is in the process of being finalized and could be in place in just a matter of days.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that a new collective bargaining deal will likely be ratified at the NFL’s owners meetings in Atlanta on July 21st. However, a source close to the negotiations has indicated that a deal could be agreed upon and ratified even before that date.

While the main point of revenue sharing has been agreed upon by both sides, at issue remains the rookie wage scale and, specifically, what it will look like at the end of the rookie’s contract.

The players would prefer shorter more lucrative deals for the young players given that the average NFL career is less than 4 years. The owners, meanwhile, are insisting on a minimum of 5-year contracts for rookies with salaries and bonus money scaled down significantly from what rookies have received in recent years.

For example, St. Louis Rams’ QB Sam Bradford received a 6-year $78 million contract as the league’s #1 pick a year ago. Nearly $50 million of that was guaranteed money.

Now, the league would like to see those numbers cut in half and the players agree – to a point.

While the players have agreed to cut rookie compensation to about half of what it was, they are also adamant about rookie contracts lasting only 4 years and not 5 or 6 years as they currently do. The owners have countered with an offer for 5-year rookie deals giving the players the option of renegotiating their contracts after the first 3 years.

If a deal is done between the owners and the players within the next 5-10 days, then it will be a rush to sign free agents and fill out rosters to the league maximum of 90 players heading into training camp.

Training camps would likely open on time and no preseason games would be lost if the deal gets done on or before the 21st.

Obviously, dates for other things such as signing restricted free agents to offer sheets and getting rookies signed would be pushed back from what otherwise would have been their normal dates. But the time to do so would be condensed with camps set to open.

As for the issue of revenue sharing, the players have agreed to accept 48% of the league’s total revenues with a guarantee never to fall below 46%.

A new deal could also take the league through the 2020 season with both sides preferring to ratify a long-term deal.

The bottom line is that the two sides are very close to finalizing this new deal which could be done in a matter of days. If that turns out to be the case, NFL fans will be watching their favorite teams play this summer and fall without interruption which would almost make the league’s lockout seem as if it never happened.