Eric Reid Calls CBA "a Disaster"

Many players around the league have voiced their displeasure with the negotiations of the new collective bargaining agreement, including Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Russell Okung and safety Eric Reid.

Reid has been extremely active on social media over the course of the last few weeks, vying for voters to vote 'no' on the proposed agreement. One major concern Reid has is the treatment, or lack thereof, of former players who are now disabled.

According to Reid's legal team, the deal was made in "bad faith" and made the addition of a 17th game "non-negotiable." The argument is that the deal is not fair until both players and owners get a 50/50 split of the added revenue as a result of the extra game being added to the season.

The new CBA also made significant changes to the disability benefits awarded to both active and former injured players. As a result of the new agreement, owners will decrease these players' guaranteed disability salaries to only 20% of what they have been paid annually since the latest new agreement made in 2011.

I asked my lawyers @meiselasb and @markgeragos to review all 456 pages of the proposed CBA. Attached is their summary. It’s a bigger disaster than we could have imagined pic.twitter.com/sWXJwJw7YA
— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) March 9, 2020

This proposal asks us to give in on moral issues, like protecting disabled players, and give in on economic issues, like gambling exclusions, and then lock those concessions in for longer than any deal in history.
VOTE NO! https://t.co/WktE4pJC4u
— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) March 13, 2020

Players are frustrated at the lack of integrity and transparency in this CBA negotiation process. We didn’t know most of the disturbing facts until yesterday. The language is incredibly one sided. Vote NO!
— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) March 10, 2020

The new agreement does not appear to be a "fair deal" for the players and it's almost as if the players are not the top priority in the deal. The disability salary cut is an absolute joke and I'm not quite sure how the deal ever got passed. They will be making significantly less money per year and taking such a big cut is absurd. This will likely be revisited when the new next CBA negotiations take place.

What are your thoughts on the new CBA? Discuss in the comment section below!

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