What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Agreement might be close afterall? (1 Viewer)

Rumblebelly

Footballguy
(KFFL) Mark Maske, of the Washington Post, reports the NFL's labor negotiations took a dramatic turn overnight. Participants said the two sides were close to completing a deal. Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, said via e-mail early this morning that the parties had scheduled another meeting in New York and were "now in the area where we will get a deal. I think it may be there. It comes down to a few final points." The talks ended yesterday with the owners offering 56.6 percent of an expanded pool of league revenues to the players as compensation under a salary-cap system. Upshaw had dropped his demand that the players receive at least 60 percent, but he would not specify exactly what percentage his latest proposal called for. Owners have said they could complete a labor deal with the players without finishing a revenue-sharing agreement immediately. The compromise might be a provision in the labor deal to limit the amount! of money that teams can spend above the flexible salary cap. A labor settlement would push next season's salary cap as high as $108 million per team and would alleviate the salary cap crunches being experienced by many teams.

Here's to hoping it gets done this time. :suds:

 
I highly doubt they would really let it (free agency) start without a new deal. No one wants that. The NFL doesn't want to become the next NBA/NHL. I say 95% it will get done today.

 
Owners have said they could complete a labor deal with the players without finishing a revenue-sharing agreement immediately. The compromise might be a provision in the labor deal to limit the amount! of money that teams can spend above the flexible salary cap.
If they call pull that one off, it would be a great success. It's hard to picture the players agreeing to a % of a pool of money of unknown size, but perhaps their compromise will work.
 
Owners have said they could complete a labor deal with the players without finishing a revenue-sharing agreement immediately. The compromise might be a provision in the labor deal to limit the amount! of money that teams can spend above the flexible salary cap. A labor settlement would push next season's salary cap as high as $108 million per team and would alleviate the salary cap crunches being experienced by many teams.

So I guess all the windbags (ie 'the Harvard educated' Matt Birk) that have been BLAMING Gene Upshaw owe the guy an apology, as he negotiated a good deal, but the greedy owners are holding this thing up.

 
Got to give Pro Football Talk some credit here, at 10:15 last night they reported a deal was close...at the same time ESPN was reporting doom and gloom.

NFL Labor Negotiations Back On, Deal Close

By Mark Maske

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, March 5, 2006; 9:21 AM

The NFL's labor negotiations took a dramatic turn overnight. After the talks faltered yesterday, representatives of the team owners and the players' union agreed to resume negotiations, and participants said the two sides were close to completing a deal.

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, said via e-mail early this morning that the parties had scheduled another meeting in New York and were "now in the area where we will get a deal. I think it may be there. It comes down to a few final points."

The negotiations broke off yesterday with Upshaw saying the owners were unable to compromise, and he left New York and returned to Washington. But the owners were meeting via conference call when Upshaw departed, and league spokesman Greg Aiello said the owners expected negotiations to resume today.

The talks ended yesterday with the owners offering 56.6 percent of an expanded pool of league revenues to the players as compensation under a salary-cap system. Upshaw had dropped his demand that the players receive at least 60 percent, but he would not specify exactly what percentage his latest proposal called for.

Upshaw has maintained that any labor deal between the players and owners would have to be accompanied by an agreement among the owners to increase the degree to which the 32 NFL teams share locally generated revenues. Otherwise, Upshaw has said, lower-revenue clubs could not afford the salary commitment they'd be making to the players. Owners have said they could complete a labor deal with the players without finishing a revenue-sharing agreement immediately.

The compromise might be a provision in the labor deal to limit the amount of money that teams can spend above the flexible salary cap. That would address the concerns of lower-revenue teams that the high-revenue clubs could gain a competitive advantage by using their wealth to consistently outspend the salary cap and get better players. The sides had been negotiating about such "cash over cap" before talks broke off Saturday.

The league's free-agent market is scheduled to open at midnight. Unless there is a new contract, teams must be under next season's $94.5 million salary cap by then. If they need to release players to get under the cap, they must do so by 6 p.m.

But Upshaw and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue facing a similar deadline Thursday agreed to push back those deadlines by 72 hours, and they could agree to another postponement if more time is needed to complete the deal. Tagliabue has told the owners to leave Tuesday free for a possible meeting in Dallas to ratify a labor deal.

The current labor deal keeps the salary-cap system in place through the 2006 season, then there would be a season without a salary cap in 2007 before the deal expires. Tagliabue said Thursday, just after the owners had a 57-minute meeting in New York to officially reject a players' proposal, that the owners had proposed an extension that would run through the 2011 season.

A labor settlement would push next season's salary cap as high as $108 million per team and would alleviate the salary-cap crunches being experienced by many teams.
 
ESPN is all about the doom and gloom. Theyd probably rather see a deal NOT get done just so they have a story...friggin' vultures.

 
i Posted that story last night.

Then someone told me about ESPN.

Screw ESPN.

They don't want a deal.

They'll get much more stories out of no deal.

 
I don't know where these reports keep coming from, but I'm at a point where I'll believe it when I see it.

How many times have we been told they're "close" only to later hear the people up top themselves say that they were never even remotely close to a deal?

 
Got to give Pro Football Talk some credit here, at 10:15 last night they reported a deal was close...at the same time ESPN was reporting doom and gloom.

NFL Labor Negotiations Back On, Deal Close

By Mark Maske

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, March 5, 2006; 9:21 AM

The NFL's labor negotiations took a dramatic turn overnight. After the talks faltered yesterday, representatives of the team owners and the players' union agreed to resume negotiations, and participants said the two sides were close to completing a deal.

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, said via e-mail early this morning that the parties had scheduled another meeting in New York and were "now in the area where we will get a deal. I think it may be there. It comes down to a few final points."

The negotiations broke off yesterday with Upshaw saying the owners were unable to compromise, and he left New York and returned to Washington. But the owners were meeting via conference call when Upshaw departed, and league spokesman Greg Aiello said the owners expected negotiations to resume today.

The talks ended yesterday with the owners offering 56.6 percent of an expanded pool of league revenues to the players as compensation under a salary-cap system. Upshaw had dropped his demand that the players receive at least 60 percent, but he would not specify exactly what percentage his latest proposal called for.

Upshaw has maintained that any labor deal between the players and owners would have to be accompanied by an agreement among the owners to increase the degree to which the 32 NFL teams share locally generated revenues. Otherwise, Upshaw has said, lower-revenue clubs could not afford the salary commitment they'd be making to the players. Owners have said they could complete a labor deal with the players without finishing a revenue-sharing agreement immediately.

The compromise might be a provision in the labor deal to limit the amount of money that teams can spend above the flexible salary cap. That would address the concerns of lower-revenue teams that the high-revenue clubs could gain a competitive advantage by using their wealth to consistently outspend the salary cap and get better players. The sides had been negotiating about such "cash over cap" before talks broke off Saturday.

The league's free-agent market is scheduled to open at midnight. Unless there is a new contract, teams must be under next season's $94.5 million salary cap by then. If they need to release players to get under the cap, they must do so by 6 p.m.

But Upshaw and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue facing a similar deadline Thursday agreed to push back those deadlines by 72 hours, and they could agree to another postponement if more time is needed to complete the deal. Tagliabue has told the owners to leave Tuesday free for a possible meeting in Dallas to ratify a labor deal.

The current labor deal keeps the salary-cap system in place through the 2006 season, then there would be a season without a salary cap in 2007 before the deal expires. Tagliabue said Thursday, just after the owners had a 57-minute meeting in New York to officially reject a players' proposal, that the owners had proposed an extension that would run through the 2011 season.

A labor settlement would push next season's salary cap as high as $108 million per team and would alleviate the salary-cap crunches being experienced by many teams.
You know, this is a good point. ESPN is becoming like the national media was during the Gore/Bush election (and many otehr examples), reporting things way before they know what the real deal is. I think that they are under much more pressure these days as the total sports channel, but they have really been bad especially with the NFL. I think these guys call their sources, the sources speculate or are no longer reliable because teams know where the leak is; and then these guys report flimsy information based on empty talk. I think the NFL network is taking extra precaution to have their facts straight and that I predict now, will lead to more of us using them as a reference in the future. Then MLB and the NBA will catch on and do the same having league sponsored channels that are more dependable and relevant. :2cents:

Whatever the case, I hope we start getting better info no matter where it comes from. :thumbup:

 
Fox Sports article

NFL talks take dramatic turn overnight

FOXSports.com

Posted: 1 hour ago

Just when doom and gloom were beginning to characterize these NFL labor negotiations, there appears to be some hope the league can still agree on a deal.

The NFL's negotiations to extend the current collective bargaining agreement took a dramatic turn overnight Saturday, the Washington Post is reporting, as representatives of team owners and the players' union agreed to resume negotiations as the deadline of midnight Sunday looms over the horizon.

Not only are the two sides meeting a day after negotiations appeared to fall apart, but Gene Upshaw, the union's executive director, told the Washington Post that the two parties were "now in the area where we will get a deal. I think it may be there. It comes down to a few final points."

This is startling news given what transpired in New York City on Saturday. Talks between the NFL and its players union broke off Saturday with no progress. No meeting for Sunday was planned and the league appeared to be bracing for a wild off-season where many high-priced free agents would become available on the market as teams struggled to get under the salary cap by 6 p.m. EST Sunday.................

.............Upshaw has said the NFL was offering 56.2 percent of its total revenues to the players. He also has said he will not go under 60 percent. Vincent said he had been told the league had increased its percentage offer Saturday.

But the problem involves more than that, notably a dispute among owners over revenue sharing. Low-revenue teams complain that they would have to contribute a higher percentage of the money they get from advertising, naming rights and other non-television and ticket revenue than big-market teams. I don't know how we can do a deal without revenue sharing," Vincent said.

Upshaw has always wanted that issue decided first among the owners, but that isn't likely to happen in these last-minute talks, which began Friday after the start of free agency was extended three days from Friday at 12:01 a.m. EST until Monday at the same time.......................................

.........................Broadcast reports indicated Sunday that if a deal is not struck in New York that the league may extend the deadline again and hope that something can be worked out some time this week.
 
ESPN Story by Mortensen

The NFL owners and the players' union have until midnight Sunday to agree on an extension to the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement. And just when the talks looked dead, there might be a glimmer of hope.

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that the two sides are meeting in New York again Sunday and that the two sides communicated via e-mail on Saturday night after face-to-face talks broke down Saturday.

In an e-mail to the Washington Post, Gene Upshaw said the two sides were "now in the area where we will get a deal. I think it may be there. It comes down to a few final points."

This is a stark contrast from how things ended Saturday. Union attorney Jeffrey Kessler, one of the lead negotiators for the NFLPA and part of a small group that huddled with league representatives, termed the negotiations "as dead as a doornail.".............

...............................Identifying a cause of death, given the veil of secrecy under which the negotiations were conducted for a total of 10-11 hours on Friday and Saturday, might be difficult. But the inability to bridge the differences over two key issues -- the internal revenue sharing among the league's 32 teams and the so-called "cash over cap" problem -- were almost certainly among the components which forced the end to negotiations.

One prominent owner strongly suggested to ESPN.com that those two issues, which he lumped under the umbrella category of "revenue sharing-related things," indeed led to the collapse of discussions.

It was difficult, however, in the immediate wake of Saturday afternoon's events, to even get the two sides to agree on what had transpired during two days at the bargaining table.

For example, two league sources told ESPN and ESPN.com on Saturday that the NFL had increased its offer on how much revenue would be split with players from 56.2 percent to between 58.2 and 58.5 percent. If true, that would have represented a predictable middle-ground compromise, given that NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw had been seeking 60.3 percent. An NFLPA source insisted, though, that the league's best offer never got to the 58-percent range.

Late Saturday night, Upshaw told Mortensen that the union did come down "a little" from the 60 percent cut of the revenue pie they were demanding. Earlier Upshaw denied that the owners had raised their ante by two points. Mortensen reports that the owners' last offer was 56.6 percent.

When informed late Saturday afternoon of the breakdown in talks, one frustrated owner resonded: "When we can't even agree on what the disagreements are on some issues, well, that just shows you how [messed] up the situation really is, right?"...................................
 
My reaction to the "news" of talk break downs last night were that it was all negotiation and grandstanding. It just reaked of what you typically see in these sorts of negotiations. I think something will get done eventually, and likely another "postponement" of FA. You will not get a huge purging of talent.

 
Owners have said they could complete a labor deal with the players without finishing a revenue-sharing agreement immediately. The compromise might be a provision in the labor deal to limit the amount! of money that teams can spend above the flexible salary cap. A labor settlement would push next season's salary cap as high as $108 million per team and would alleviate the salary cap crunches being experienced by many teams.

So I guess all the windbags (ie 'the Harvard educated' Matt Birk) that have been BLAMING Gene Upshaw owe the guy an apology, as he negotiated a good deal, but the greedy owners are holding this thing up.
How is it all on the owners? One of the things that have held the deal up so far, is the fact that Gene Upshaw has demanded the owners agree on revenue sharing between themselves before agreeing to a deal with the players. There was no truly good reason for him to do so. For all we know, that may still be a sticking point.We kept hearing about how Upshaw wasn't going to move from the 60% figure and yet now it appears that he has moved. How much he moved remains to be seen still. And maybe one of the reasons that he agreed to move his demands down is precisely because some of the players were beginning to get upset.

Now what will happen is a deal probably will get done between the owners and players. I still don't think a deal will get done between the owners and I don't think one ever will get done. The middle ground will be a cap on the "cash over cap" amount allowed and that will be negotiated into the CBA. The owners were discussing 2% but my guess is it will be at least 5%. The players will get around 58.5% of the total football revenue and Gene Upshaw will be beloved by the players when the $108M new cap kicks in and contracts this year go from peanuts to ridiculously huge deals offered by teams that will be $30M under the cap.

 
I'm going to stick with them until Zero Hour...... as long as there is a salary cap I'm happy. But there had better be a deal done by midnight.

 
ESPN Story by Mortensen

The NFL owners and the players' union have until midnight Sunday to agree on an extension to the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement. And just when the talks looked dead, there might be a glimmer of hope.

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that the two sides are meeting in New York again Sunday and that the two sides communicated via e-mail on Saturday night after face-to-face talks broke down Saturday.

In an e-mail to the Washington Post, Gene Upshaw said the two sides were "now in the area where we will get a deal. I think it may be there. It comes down to a few final points."

This is a stark contrast from how things ended Saturday. Union attorney Jeffrey Kessler, one of the lead negotiators for the NFLPA and part of a small group that huddled with league representatives, termed the negotiations "as dead as a doornail.".............

...............................Identifying a cause of death, given the veil of secrecy under which the negotiations were conducted for a total of 10-11 hours on Friday and Saturday, might be difficult. But the inability to bridge the differences over two key issues -- the internal revenue sharing among the league's 32 teams and the so-called "cash over cap" problem -- were almost certainly among the components which forced the end to negotiations.

One prominent owner strongly suggested to ESPN.com that those two issues, which he lumped under the umbrella category of "revenue sharing-related things," indeed led to the collapse of discussions.

It was difficult, however, in the immediate wake of Saturday afternoon's events, to even get the two sides to agree on what had transpired during two days at the bargaining table.

For example, two league sources told ESPN and ESPN.com on Saturday that the NFL had increased its offer on how much revenue would be split with players from 56.2 percent to between 58.2 and 58.5 percent. If true, that would have represented a predictable middle-ground compromise, given that NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw had been seeking 60.3 percent. An NFLPA source insisted, though, that the league's best offer never got to the 58-percent range.

Late Saturday night, Upshaw told Mortensen that the union did come down "a little" from the 60 percent cut of the revenue pie they were demanding. Earlier Upshaw denied that the owners had raised their ante by two points. Mortensen reports that the owners' last offer was 56.6 percent.

When informed late Saturday afternoon of the breakdown in talks, one frustrated owner resonded: "When we can't even agree on what the disagreements are on some issues, well, that just shows you how [messed] up the situation really is, right?"...................................
Interesting??? I heard Mort this morning at 5:22 am and he didn't say this. He made everything sound very bleak.
 
Backpedaling

Vikings Pro Bowl center Matt Birk called Gene Upshaw (left) on Friday to apologize for a remark he made to a Star Tribune reporter about the executive director of the NFL Players Association. Birk, who did not back off from many of his comments about the league's labor situation, said he regretted using a less-than-complimentary term to describe Upshaw.

"I left him a voice mail apologizing," Birk said. "The union and the players and the game is something I feel passionate about, and I was kind of emotionally charged. I left him my number and hope that he calls me back. It just wasn't a classy thing to do on my part, and I regret it."
 
The only update I can find at this time is at PFT.

POSTED 12:33 p.m. EST, March 5, 2006NFL, UNION QUIBBLE BY CONFERENCE CALLA league source tells us that representatives of the NFL and the NFLPA currently are negotiating via conference call the remaining issues that need to be resolved before a deal on a new CBA can be completed. The source had no specific information as to whether progress is being made. The talks have resumed less than 24 hours after NFLPA lawyer Jeffrey Kessler declared them to be dead as a doornail. Apparently, reports of the demise of said doornail have been greatly exaggerated. If a new deal is going to be reached, something needs to happen soon. Teams are facing a 6:00 p.m. EST deadline for getting under the $94.53 million salary cap for 2006. If talks break down again, look for another extension to be provided.
 
Backpedaling

Vikings Pro Bowl center Matt Birk called Gene Upshaw (left) on Friday to apologize for a remark he made to a Star Tribune reporter about the executive director of the NFL Players Association. Birk, who did not back off from many of his comments about the league's labor situation, said he regretted using a less-than-complimentary term to describe Upshaw.

"I left him a voice mail apologizing," Birk said. "The union and the players and the game is something I feel passionate about, and I was kind of emotionally charged. I left him my number and hope that he calls me back. It just wasn't a classy thing to do on my part, and I regret it."
He's not backpedaling on his analysis of the situation, just on some of the things he said about Upshaw himself.
 
No word? Isn't the cap in place by 6pm? Must be a delay or deal commin or the cuts would have started already.

 
No word? Isn't the cap in place by 6pm? Must be a delay or deal commin or the cuts would have started already.
And some signings. They are likely to extend the deadline 48 to 72 more hours if they can't get it done but it seems they are trying.
 
This is the latest from KFFL:

NFL | Labor deal getting closer; free agency to be pushed back to Wednesday?

Sun, 5 Mar 2006 13:41:51 -0800

Mark Maske, of the Washington Post, reports negotiators for NFL team owners and the players' union were making progress Sunday afternoon, March 5, toward settlement on an extension of their collective bargaining agreement, sources familiar with the deliberations said. It appeared increasingly likely that the league would push back the opening of the free-agent market, scheduled for midnight tonight, for a second time, perhaps until Wednesday, March 8. Sources said the owners and players were progressing toward a compromise in which players would receive approximately 59 percent of a greatly expanded pool of league revenues as compensation under a salary-cap system.

 
This is the latest from KFFL:

NFL | Labor deal getting closer; free agency to be pushed back to Wednesday?

Sun, 5 Mar 2006 13:41:51 -0800

Mark Maske, of the Washington Post, reports negotiators for NFL team owners and the players' union were making progress Sunday afternoon, March 5, toward settlement on an extension of their collective bargaining agreement, sources familiar with the deliberations said. It appeared increasingly likely that the league would push back the opening of the free-agent market, scheduled for midnight tonight, for a second time, perhaps until Wednesday, March 8. Sources said the owners and players were progressing toward a compromise in which players would receive approximately 59 percent of a greatly expanded pool of league revenues as compensation under a salary-cap system.
Was about to post the samething. Good to hear :thumbup: . Will give the niners all the cap space they need to sign EDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
This is the latest from KFFL:

NFL | Labor deal getting closer; free agency to be pushed back to Wednesday?

Sun, 5 Mar 2006 13:41:51 -0800

Mark Maske, of the Washington Post, reports negotiators for NFL team owners and the players' union were making progress Sunday afternoon, March 5, toward settlement on an extension of their collective bargaining agreement, sources familiar with the deliberations said. It appeared increasingly likely that the league would push back the opening of the free-agent market, scheduled for midnight tonight, for a second time, perhaps until Wednesday, March 8. Sources said the owners and players were progressing toward a compromise in which players would receive approximately 59 percent of a greatly expanded pool of league revenues as compensation under a salary-cap system.
Thanks for the update.
 
Well, if they do extend it to Wednesday again, I assume we can expect that once again they will refuse to budge on any issue at all up until Wednesday at 4pm. :rolleyes:

 
Mark Maske, Washington Post

Sunday, March 5, 2006; 4:21 PM

Negotiators for NFL team owners and the players' union were making progress this afternoon toward settlement on an extension of their collective bargaining agreement, sources familiar with the deliberations said.

It appeared increasingly likely that the league would push back the opening of the free-agent market, scheduled for midnight tonight, for a second time, perhaps until Wednesday. That would give NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue an opportunity to take a deal or near-deal with the union on a labor settlement before the owners in a meeting tentatively scheduled for Tuesday in Dallas.

Sources said the owners and players were progressing toward a compromise in which players would receive approximately 59 percent of a greatly expanded pool of league revenues as compensation under a salary-cap system. The owners raised their offer today to more than 58 percent, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were ongoing.

Negotiations resumed late this morning in New York amid renewed optimism that a settlement was within reach, a day after the talks had collapsed yet again.

A union official said just before 11:15 a.m. that the bargaining session was about to begin. Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the Players Association, and Richard Berthelsen, the union's general counsel, traveled back to New York from Washington this morning after leaving New York when talks broke down yesterday.

Upshaw said via e-mail early this morning that the parties were "now in the area where we will get a deal. I think it may be there. It comes down to a few final points."

Another participant in the talks said just before today's bargaining session began that any optimism should be tempered, however, because the sides had not yet resumed face-to-face negotiations and there still was plenty of work to be done. He said he was hopeful but less than certain that a settlement was imminent.

Even if the parties emerge from today's negotiations with a tentative agreement, the owners and players would have to ratify the deal. It could be particularly difficult for Tagliabue to get a consensus among the owners. The labor deal would have to be ratified by at least 24 of the 32 teams.

If the labor deal is accompanied by an agreement among the owners for clubs to increase the degree to which they share locally generated revenues, it's possible that nine high-revenue teams would band together to block approval of the labor settlement. If the labor deal isn't accompanied by a revenue-sharing accord among the owners, it's possible that nine low-revenue clubs could block it.

Tagliabue previously had informed owners they would meet Tuesday in Dallas if there were a labor agreement up for ratification.

The players' executive board is scheduled to meet this week in Hawaii, and the union's leaders could put any settlement with the owners up for the players' approval then.

The negotiations broke off yesterday with Upshaw saying the owners were unable to compromise, and he left New York and returned to Washington. But the owners were meeting via conference call when Upshaw departed, and league spokesman Greg Aiello said the owners expected negotiations to resume today.

The talks ended yesterday with the owners offering 56.6 percent of an expanded pool of league revenues to the players as compensation under a salary-cap system.Upshaw had dropped his demand that the players receive at least 60 percent, but he would not specify exactly what percentage his latest proposal called for.

Upshaw has maintained that any labor deal between the players and owners would have to be accompanied by an agreement among the owners to increase the degree to which the 32 NFL teams share locally generated revenues. Otherwise, Upshaw has said, lower-revenue clubs could not afford the salary commitment they would be making to the players. Owners have said they could complete a labor deal with the players without finishing a revenue-sharing agreement immediately.
article continues after that
 
Turn on ESPN News (not ESPN). Mortensen is supposed to be right back on with an update.

Man, he looks exhausted.

 
Mort says no agreement yet, and management will ask for another extension from the players union until Wednesday, and he's unsure that the players will agree to that.

"working hard", "not nailed down yet", "everyone thought there would be an agreement by now" "pins and needles"

paraphrasing Mortensen

 
Mort says an extension is being asked for until 4 PM Wednesday.
Just get a deal done already!!! If you couldn't agree with the first extension, what is exstending it until Wednesday going to do??
 
Mort says an extension is being asked for until 4 PM Wednesday.
Just get a deal done already!!! If you couldn't agree with the first extension, what is exstending it until Wednesday going to do??
No, I think this is a good sign that labor peace is close IMO. If either side thought that it was hopeless, they would go ahead.
 
PFT

POSTED 4:57 p.m. EST, March 5, 2006ATTENTION SHIFTS TO NEW EXTENSIONAs the NFL and the NFLPA continue to discuss the final sticking points on a new CBA, we're told that the focus has now shifted to negotiating an extension to the start of the 2006 league year. Under the extension to which both sides agreed on Thursday, the new league year begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday, and all teams must make any cuts aimed at getting under the salary cap by 6:00 p.m. EST Sunday. That's roughly an hour from now.We're told that the deadlines will be extended either by one or three days.
 
PFT

POSTED 4:57 p.m. EST, March 5, 2006

ATTENTION SHIFTS TO NEW EXTENSION

As the NFL and the NFLPA continue to discuss the final sticking points on a new CBA, we're told that the focus has now shifted to negotiating an extension to the start of the 2006 league year. Under the extension to which both sides agreed on Thursday, the new league year begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday, and all teams must make any cuts aimed at getting under the salary cap by 6:00 p.m. EST Sunday. 

That's roughly an hour from now.

We're told that the deadlines will be extended either by one or three days.
I have no ESPN News over here. You guys are my lifeline.
 
Mort says an extension is being asked for until 4 PM Wednesday.
Just get a deal done already!!! If you couldn't agree with the first extension, what is exstending it until Wednesday going to do??
No, I think this is a good sign that labor peace is close IMO. If either side thought that it was hopeless, they would go ahead.
Or it's just that neither side wants to be seen as the one that killed the deal. :tinfoilhat:
 
Paraphrasing Mortensen again:

"No agreement................management wasnts union to agree to extension until Wednesday to see if more work can be done .................. not anywhere as close as they hoped to be ................... (Mort picks up phone ------ is it real or a prop?) ................ there is an agreement to delay waiver cuts until 10 pm tonight..................

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Was about to post the samething. Good to hear :thumbup: . Will give the niners all the cap space they need to sign EDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmm, how many flawed assumptions can we find in this post?Assumption 1) The Niners will pay top dollar for, well, anyone.

2) Edge will agree to go to an awful team.

3) Edge, if he went to the Niners, would make a difference on their awful team.

 
I'd assume there won't be much substantial news for the next couple hours at least. I'm going to go do something else for awhile.

Just piecing things together from Maske, Mortensen, and PFT, it sounds like the agreed-upon percentage of income to go to the players is 59%, and the players association won't sign a CBA unless there's a revenue-sharing agreement that protects both low-income teams and players on low-income teams.

 
Paraphrasing Mortensen again:

"No agreement................management wasnts union to agree to extension until Wednesday to see if more work can be done .................. not anywhere as close as they hoped to be ................... (Mort picks up phone ------ is it real or a prop?) ................ there is an agreement to delay waiver cuts until 10 pm tonight..................
Gotta think this is a real good sign.
 
How is it all on the owners? One of the things that have held the deal up so far, is the fact that Gene Upshaw has demanded the owners agree on revenue sharing between themselves before agreeing to a deal with the players. There was no truly good reason for him to do so. For all we know, that may still be a sticking point.
I still can't understand why people think there is no incentive for the players union to demand this. A number of small revenue teams have said that without additional sharing they will not compromise their profit margin to fully spend the full amount under such a new full-revenue cap. This means even though the cap is raised, many teams will be paying near the minimum instead of the maximum. Agreeing to a cap set at a percentage where half the teams can't spend that amount is the same as agreeing to a lower percentage. It would cost tens of millions of dollars per year to the players.
This is the latest from KFFL:

NFL | Labor deal getting closer; free agency to be pushed back to Wednesday?

Sun, 5 Mar 2006 13:41:51 -0800

Mark Maske, of the Washington Post, reports negotiators for NFL team owners and the players' union were making progress Sunday afternoon, March 5, toward settlement on an extension of their collective bargaining agreement, sources familiar with the deliberations said. It appeared increasingly likely that the league would push back the opening of the free-agent market, scheduled for midnight tonight, for a second time, perhaps until Wednesday, March 8. Sources said the owners and players were progressing toward a compromise in which players would receive approximately 59 percent of a greatly expanded pool of league revenues as compensation under a salary-cap system.
Interesting choice of words. Note that it doesn't say "Total Revenue". The owners probably got some 'exemptions' to what is used as the basis for the calculations in order to raise the percentage.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For what it's worth from PFT:

A league source tells us that talks between the NFL and the NFLPA will resume at 8:30 p.m. EST Sunday.Maybe they were just hungry, or perhaps they're curious to see whether Jake Gyllenhaal wins the Oscar for best support actor in Brokeback. Actually, we're hearing that the owner of one of the high-revenue teams is mucking up the efforts to strike a deal that will work for the union, the league, the low-revenue clubs, and the big-money clubs.We're also hearing that the problem from the union perspective is NFLPA lawyer Jeffrey Kessler. As one league insider told us (echoing sentiments we heard on Saturday), "If they could just get him out of the room the deal would get done." Stay tuned.
Any other reports of talks resuming?
 
This is a post from a Redskin message board, from a member who's generally not known but is sticking to his story:

Just spoke with a friend of mine in the front office of an AFC North team and he told me that that the dealine for cutting players is going to get moved again!! I asked him to give me a percentage on these chances and he said, "it is 99% sure to happen and that a CBA will get done within the next few days". He also said that talks did NOT break officially off today but instead were put on hold so the the owners committe could be updated..........

...........Just got off his cell phone with him and he said their staff was in meetings discussing free agents when their owner walked in the room and told them the news. He said this is as positive as it has been since all of this crap has started.
I apologize if this turns out to be a fake report; I have no way to know. Link

 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top