A New Era Begins for NFL After Proposed CBA Passes Majority Vote — How Will Jaguars Be Impacted?

The NFL will eventually move to a 17-game season, along with other changes, after the newly proposed collective bargaining agreement passed the player vote.

A new era is upon professional football. After months of negotiations, public spats, and much, much more, the NFL's newest collective bargaining agreement has passed.

The NFL Players Association approved the new CBA with the league after the votes were counted following Saturday's player vote. The approval, which required a majority vote, was announced Sunday by the NFLPA, and the close margin came down to 1,019 players in favor of the deal with 959 against it. 

"NFL players have voted to approve ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement by a vote tally of 1,019 to 959," the NFLPA said in a statement. "This result comes after a long and democratic process in accordance with our constitution. An independent auditor received submitted ballots through a secure electronic platform, then verified, tallied and certified the results."

The CBA, which was previously approved by the league's owners, has split the opinion of players throughout the league due to the concessions made by each side. Under the new CBA, which runs through 2030, a 17-game regular season will be implemented at some point following 2020, while next season will include a new 14-team playoff format.

32 Player Rep Vote
17-14-1

1,978 Total Player Vote
1,019-959

Almost Identical

— Brandon McManus (@thekidmcmanus) March 15, 2020

"We are pleased that the players have voted to ratify the proposed new CBA, which will provide substantial benefits to all current and retired players, increase jobs, ensure continued progress on player safety, and give our fans more and better football," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in the statement. "We appreciate the tireless efforts of the members of the Management Council Executive Committee and the NFLPA leadership, both of whom devoted nearly a year to detailed, good faith negotiations to reach this comprehensive, transformative agreement."

Under the new agreement, there will be an increase in player revenue share (which will create larger increases in the salary cap in the future), an increase in minimum player salaries, and changes to the set up of rosters. The new agreement will increase increases from 53 to 55, while teams can now designate three players to return from injured reserve.

How will this CBA impact the Jacksonville Jaguars? Like all teams, the Jaguars will be given more breathing room in cap space following 2020. The Jaguars are currently projected to have over $100 million in cap space in 2021 according to Spotrac, and this could increase under the new agreement. With this in mind, the Jaguars could plan to attack next year's offseason with several big moves. 

Clubs informed for 2020 season: Overall player costs per club: $242.9 million. Salary cap is $198.2m. Rest is benefits and performance based pay pool.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2020

With the CBA now agreed to, the league will also shift its focus to the timeline of the start of the league year and the beginning of free agency. There has been speculation the NFL could push back free agency, which begins at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

If the start of free agency is pushed back, the Jaguars will have more time to ponder roster decisions such as what to do with the contracts of wide receiver Marqise Lee, tight end Geoff Swaim, and more. Some have wondered why the Jaguars have yet to create even more cap space by releasing players such as those two, but there is a good chance the team was waiting along with the rest of the NFL to make some moves due to the CBA. 

The new CBA also includes language on the future of international games, which impacts the Jaguars since they have played an international game every year since 2013 and have expressed interest in doing so moving forward. The Jaguars are currently slated to play two home games in London in 2020. The team's contract with the league to play games in London expires after this season.

The approved CBA caps the number of international games each year at a maximum of 10, though this number will be readdressed in 2025. The agreement includes language which implies one team could play at least three games outside of the United States, with the potential for more.

"Before any Club is scheduled to play 3 or more regular season international games in a season, other than for a reason set forth in the preceding paragraph, the NFL will meet and confer with the NFLPA to consider impacts to underlying business justifications and player health, safety, and working conditions, as described in Subsection (c)," the CBA states.

With the Jaguars' growing prescence overseas, how their future playing games outside of the United States will play out now has some additional clarity as a result of the CBA, with the door being open for more games overseas for all teams.