No Need for the NFL & NFLPA to be Tone Deaf

The NFL & NFLPA are guilty sometimes of being out of touch with reality. Adding a 17th game for all teams is an example. Refusing to budge on free agency is another.

Last week, I had very little faith or expectation that the NFL was going to do the right thing. Usually they don't. 

Sometimes they are handcuffed. Apparently. By their "partners" - the NFLPA.

Free agency will start Wednesday at 4 PM ET and the so called legal tampering period begins Monday at Noon ET. 

Now official: The NFL’s 2020 league year will start on time. They informed teams in a memo that the schedule stands. So, tags are due tomorrow at 11:59 am, tampering begins at noon, the league year starts Wednesday at 4 pm. It will be an escape.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 15, 2020

So the show goes on - when nothing but fear and sadness swarms us. At least we have the NFL and billionaires cutting huge checks to millionaires to come and play football and ultimately be a disappointment. 

Per Adam Schefter of ESPN:

NFL says NFLPA would not provide consent to move league year, per source.

NFLPA says: No one is traveling anyway. It’s not football activity, it’s deals. Everyone is working remotely. Let’s do our business remotely. And this could get worse before it gets better. So do it now.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2020

There's no need for this. 

The sport of football does not  need to hog the spotlight and make it all about you. The world is in a pandemic and we're supposed to worry about weather the Redskins overpay a tight end or a cornerback? 

To me - this is a lack of  common sense. Yes they can do most of their work remotely but my sense is the NFLPA cares much more about their members getting paid than they do about bad public relations or the world struggling to stay afloat. 

I'll be very candid. NFL free agency is great for business. Our business will be much better but my faith in humanity and common sense is almost always left disappointed when it comes to dealing with these two powerful entities. 

I became hopeful on Friday that the NFL would do the right thing, when Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio suggested that it was a possibility that the league would do the right thing.

I further became hopeful when Sean Payton, the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, said there would likely be a delay. 

There's many reasons why the NFL & the NFLPA should not do this as I explain below:

(Full Disclosure - I wasn't aware that this was a collectively bargained issue. I thought the NFL set and operated the date of free agency.)

Editors Note: This story has been significantly edited and altered to reflect new information and the changing reasons behind this decision as reported by Adam Schefter. 

Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.