Browns J.C. Tretter Provides Downsides of Proposed CBA, Notes Pro Bowl Farce
In an effort to educate the electorate for the upcoming vote involving the collective bargaining agreement, Cleveland Browns center J.C. Tretter provided an outline of the drawbacks involved in passing it. Tretter isn't trying to sway anyone to vote one way or the other, but is simply trying to make sure that the players know exactly what is included, so that if it does pass, they aren't caught by surprise. He also points out how absurd the notion is of tying play to the Pro Bowl is.
Tretter lays it all out there, starting with the fact they would be adding a 17th regular game, an extra playoff game while the season will still only have one bye week. The increased minimum salaries take a few years to kick in and the money they'd be getting from a 17th game isn't coming from nowhere, which is to say it would be coming out of the player performance pool.
One of the things that stands out is how Tretter eviscerates the Pro Bowl as a means to determine pay for players simply by pointing out how it works. He points out that it's more difficult for players to make the Pro Bowl from losing teams. The Baltimore Ravens, for example, had 12 players make the Pro Bowl last year. It's a popularity contest. There's a correlation between twitter followers and making the Pro Bowl. The game, at least is allegedly supposed to be about production.
Simply going to the Pro Bowl doesn't do it either. Alternates don't receive the same pay benefits as players that make it on the initial ballot. They get the honor of being in the Pro Bowl, but are no better off in terms of their pay.
Tretter makes himself available for anyone that has questions about the proposed collective bargaining agreement. He's not advocating voting in one direction or another, but even if this ends up being a great deal for the players because they have more leverage than they ever had as owners want to get a television deal done, there are some fundamentally ridiculous parts to it.
