As Some Players Voice Opposition to Proposed CBA, Owners Send Veiled Threat

As players determine how they are voting on the proposed collective bargaining agreement and some players are publicly voicing their opinions on it, the owners have produced a what's to come in the event it doesn't pass through a report by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

A number of high profile NFL players have loudly proclaimed their opposition to the current collective bargaining agreement being voted on in an effort to encourage other players to vote the same way. Meanwhile, owners seem to be sending their own message to players voting through a report by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, noting that some are hoping this deal doesn't pass, because some owners feel the deal was too generous to the players. In what comes off as a threat, it sounds like the owners are telling players that if they don't vote to pass this proposal, the next offer won't be as lucrative to the players.

The exit polling of players who are publicly announcing their votes, including Aaron Rodgers, Richard Sherman and Maurkice Pouncey is tiny relative to the number of votes that are to be cast, but only one has come out in favor of the deal; Ryan Fitzpartrick, quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. Whether owners take this as an indication of where the voting is headed, this report coming out almost immediately after the votes are sent out to players can't be a coincidence. They wanted this out there while players vote,

The owners seemed willing to give up more in this deal because they are trying to negotiate lucrative television deals and want to get labor peace established to maximize their leverage in getting networks to hand out as much money as possible. That's not including things like streaming rights or international broadcasting rights as the NFL reaches into Europe not only with their efforts in London, but they are working to be televised in Germany. In many ways, the owners seemed to give the players a substantial increase in the size of the pie with the promise that the pie is set to radically increase in size.

As a result, the owners offered the players 48.5 percent of the league revenue, up from 47 percent, but they also get a seventeenth week of the regular season and an extra playoff game. Per Fowler's report, the suggestion is the owners, if this doesn't get passed, would demand an eighteenth regular season game and might not even offer that same percentage of revenue.

DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, acknowledged the owners did bring up the notion of an 18-game schedule, but didn't see it going anywhere. As a guest on the Dan Patrick Show, Smith said that a 17-game regular season was the only way to get a deal done this quickly.

With free agency starting March 18th and the NFL Draft scheduled to begin April 23rd, being unable to secure a deal now doesn't simply impact television negotiations. It's getting closer to having a real impact on the league's normal schedule. Votes are due via DocuSign by 11:59pm on March 12th and if a majority vote for the deal to be approved, the 17-game schedule won't begin until the year 2021.