NFLPA apparently advising players to plan for an NFL work stoppage of at least one year

[sec101row23]

4 minutes ago, bitonti said:

 

There's a path where they can win 

it's called the XFL

the only reason why billionaires have all the leverage is because there's no competition

a work stoppage seems like the perfect time to start a competitor league 

guys with TB12 level contracts won't participate but that leaves like 90% of the league to choose from 

The issue with a competing league now is that they don’t have nearly enough revenue to pay anywhere close to what even the league minimum guys in the NFL get.  That’s the problem.  90% of the league would not want to play there.  

[Savage69]

15 hours ago, Peace Frog said:

The average career of an NFL player is 3.3 years. 

Hey guys, here’s a good idea, let’s give up a THIRD of our career!!

Got that college degree to fall back on. May have to sell the Maserati and no more $20,000 sofas and suits made of flank steak. 

Factor in that stat is some players bust and others never make a team and are gone..

[Scott Dierking]

4 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

The issue with a competing league now is that they don’t have nearly enough revenue to pay anywhere close to what even the league minimum guys in the NFL get.  That’s the problem.  90% of the league would not want to play there.  

Yup. The NFL has the networks in cahoots with them that create a great  disparity of entry for any competing factions. 

[peebag]

15 hours ago, Jets Voice of Reason said:

They did this last CBA and summarily caved on the franchise tag and rookie wage scale in favor of short sighted restrictions on two a days and voluntary OTAs and limited training camp practices. 

 

This.  They really need to talk to the Baseball players union reps and learn about strength of unity.

[bitonti]

8 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

The issue with a competing league now is that they don’t have nearly enough revenue to pay anywhere close to what even the league minimum guys in the NFL get.  That’s the problem.  90% of the league would not want to play there.  

in a work stoppage scenario where the owners are waiting for the players to go broke and their leverage is time, the XFL provides a way for the Antonio Cromarties of the league to feed their families 

Vince McMahon is playing this perfectly. The XFL doesn't have to respect the NCAA or Canada or any of these gentlemen agreements the NFL has set up. 

Prediction: Either the league buys him out early to shut it down or buys him out late (essentially turning the XFL into a minor league and giving him his own team). 

[bitonti]

3 minutes ago, peebag said:

This.  They really need to talk to the Baseball players union reps and learn about strength of unity.

Baseball is a different animal due primarily due to the 162 opportunities to earn rather than 16-20. but also lack of salary cap and the guaranteed contract.

side note Any sport where you can consume sunflower seeds while it's happen is soft. And I love baseball 

[#27TheDominator]

 

I don't understand some of you people.  The players win, so they shouldn't even try to take on the owners?  WTF?  Thank you sir, can I have some more porridge?  **** that. Stick it to those cocksuckers.  The owners do have some issues with the infrastructure that should be costing a pretty penny and they shouldn't be getting television money if they can't put out a product.

The network money is nice, but if ever there was a time for a new league, this is it.  **** the networks.  Start your own streaming service and give the players a huge cut.  McMahon might actually have most of it in place already.  Stick it to the man!  

[BornJetsFan1983]

15 hours ago, Jets Voice of Reason said:

They did this last CBA and summarily caved on the franchise tag and rookie wage scale in favor of short sighted restrictions on two a days and voluntary OTAs and limited training camp practices. 

 

Also increasing injuries and preventing players and teams of being ready for the season... The players are ******* idiot's

[section314]

4 minutes ago, peebag said:

This.  They really need to talk to the Baseball players union reps and learn about strength of unity.

Big difference. Baseball is still very much a regional game, where the NFL is national, and realistically international, as far as TV revenues go. NFL owners make way more than MLB ones do, with a few exceptions, before the games are even played. MLB depends way more on ticket sales than the NFL. That's why the MLB players union is so much stronger, they have way more real leverage.

[peebag]

5 minutes ago, bitonti said:

Baseball is a different animal due primarily due to the 162 opportunities to earn rather than 16-20. but also lack of salary cap and the guaranteed contract.

side note Any sport where you can consume sunflower seeds while it's happen is soft. And I love baseball 

sure - but the issue is strength of resolve.  The NFL players union is a joke.    

[ChuckkieB]

Sorry, but I have no sympathy for millionaire players fighting with billionaire owners over a multi billion dollar pot.  Work it out and everyone laugh all the way to the bank.  

[sec101row23]

8 minutes ago, bitonti said:

in a work stoppage scenario where the owners are waiting for the players to go broke and their leverage is time, the XFL provides a way for the Antonio Cromarties of the league to feed their families 

Vince McMahon is playing this perfectly. The XFL doesn't have to respect the NCAA or Canada or any of these gentlemen agreements the NFL has set up. 

Prediction: Either the league buys him out early to shut it down or buys him out late (essentially turning the XFL into a minor league and giving him his own team). 

But where is the money coming from?  Other than maybe the bottom 10% of rostered players, who is going to risk their career playing for maybe $80,000 a year?   

[Jetsfan80]

38 minutes ago, Kevin L said:

They got a reduced workload and an increase in benefits. Pretty sweet concessions.

But they didn't get an increase in benefits.  They actually got less (they gave away revenue dollars to the owners), while more money in the pool available was spread to the veteran players.  A very short-sighted approach considering that the owners still had several tools at their disposal such as lengthy rookie deals to squeeze out of players then let the non-QB's walk for less than market value, AND the franchise tag. 

[section314]

3 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

But where is the money coming from?  Other than maybe the bottom 10% of rostered players, who is going to risk their career playing for maybe $80,000 a year?   

Seriously, the the top end guys at the power 5 conferences make way more than that a year. ?

[bitonti]

10 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

But where is the money coming from?  Other than maybe the bottom 10% of rostered players, who is going to risk their career playing for maybe $80,000 a year?   

dude the average career length is 3 years and 75% of the players end up broke 

there's going to be takers... the rosters won't be 100% NFL guys but there will be plenty of takers 

and to answer your question the initial money has come from WWE stock liquidations.  it's like a 70$ stock on the NYSE and he's raised like a hundred mil already. 

just spit balling in a world without NFL the XFL could command decent TV contracts.  By autumn everyone will be jonesing 

[k-met57]

11 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

But where is the money coming from?  Other than maybe the bottom 10% of rostered players, who is going to risk their career playing for maybe $80,000 a year?   

umm, thats about the salary in the CFL...and most of these guys are americans that have to go to canada to get it.

[sec101row23]

Just now, bitonti said:

dude the average career length is 3 years and 75% of the players end up broke 

there's going to be takers... the rosters won't be 100% NFL guys but there will be plenty of takers 

and to answer your question the money has come from WWE stock liquidations.  it's like a 70$ stock on the NYSE and he's raised like a hundred mil already. 

Ok, but it’s still fringe roster guys, no average starter in the NFL will even consider the XFL.  To have a roster of 50 guys making $80,000 per year would cost $4 million dollars.  Let’s say there are 8 teams, that’s $32 million for just player salaries for one season.  That’s just if the everyones’ salary is only $80,000.   You need 400 guys to field 8 teams, it’s just not a realistic option for other than practice squad type players.   Billionaire owners are laughing at the notion of the XFL actually competing with them.  

[sec101row23]

6 minutes ago, k-met57 said:

umm, thats about the salary in the CFL...and most of these guys are americans that have to go to canada to get it.

Ok, so?  The CFL isn’t even remotely considered competition to the NFL though.  The notion was that the XFL could be competition to the NFL and thus having an impact on the CBA negotiations.  Neither league will do so.  

[Kevin L]

22 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

But they didn't get an increase in benefits.  They actually got less (they gave away revenue dollars to the owners), while more money in the pool available was spread to the veteran players.  A very short-sighted approach considering that the owners still had several tools at their disposal such as lengthy rookie deals to squeeze out of players then let the non-QB's walk for less than market value, AND the franchise tag. 

Didn't the NFL put up $1 billion or so for retired players? Maybe I'm misremembering. 

The NFLPA are shortsighted. The vets threw the rookies under the bus. Pretty dumb.

[bitonti]

10 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

Ok, but it’s still fringe roster guys, no average starter in the NFL will even consider the XFL.  To have a roster of 50 guys making $80,000 per year would cost $4 million dollars.  Let’s say there are 8 teams, that’s $32 million for just player salaries for one season.  That’s just if the everyones’ salary is only $80,000.   You need 400 guys to field 8 teams, it’s just not a realistic option for other than practice squad type players.   Billionaire owners are laughing at the notion of the XFL actually competing with them.  

They don't have to field 8 teams. They can field maybe 4 or 6 and people would still watch it. but let's say it's 8 for the sake of argument.  

again Vince already liquidated 100 mil of his stock. He could go for 3 years and not make a dime. if the NFL work stoppage lasts for 3 years he should be able to drink their milkshake. 

side Robby Anderson is making 3.1 Mil this year he's still going to race a 40 yard dash for money 

what will Robby Anderson do when he's making 0 dollars per year? 

you are thinking like an accountant or a rational human

think like Sun Ra Robby Anderson 

go nut in someone's eye and spend 50k on a watch

it's not just fringe guys it's all the guys on non first round rookie contracts and RFA deals 

 

[Warfish]

I don't really have much empathy for either side.

Here is what I'd love to see:

1. 18 Game Regular season, 2 Game Preseason.

2. Expanded Rosters to 70 Players per Team, 100% of Roster Active on Game Day.

Do that, and I am a very happy fan.

[JetFreak89]

You know it's getting serious when the NFL is looking for a Labor Relations Attorney on Indeed: 

https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=3a060b17ac522dfc&tk=1dc208skh281r003&from=serp&vjs=3

 

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, Kevin L said:

Didn't the NFL put up $1 billion or so for retired players? Maybe I'm misremembering.

Probably.  But I imagine that was coming down the pike regardless because of the concussions lawsuits.  Not sure. 

[Bleedin Green]

1 hour ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Yep.  2-year contracts will become the new craze.  The few players who like "betting on themselves" and don't mind moving from city to city throughout their careers will be happy.  The rest, not so much.

Exactly.  Contract length will go along exactly with how many years worth of guarantees teams are currently willing to give to players of that caliber.  These days, tons of players currently get guarantees in their first year, plenty of good players get guarantees through year 2, and only the most truly elite (mostly QBs) may actually get guarantees into their third, but nothing beyond that.  Those will simply be the full-length contract offers made if the rules change.

As you said, there is definitely some benefit that can be seen by those willing to take the risk.  After all, if you're good enough, you could find yourself getting a bigger contract every few years.  Of course a slip in play or any slightly significant injury won't come with nearly the protection they're hoping to get from guaranteed, when the contracts are all short and, when something goes wrong, the offers go plummeting.

[BornJetsFan1983]

1 hour ago, slats said:

Wanted to say exactly this. Neither side wants a work stoppage. 

The plight of Le'Veon Bell should be a warning to the entire league. His self-imposed year off probably cost him $20M that he'll never see. He put on a brave face saying he has no regrets, but I'm sure he's overrun with regret. In a league where the average career is three years and the NFL minimum salary is @ $500K, that's a lot of money for a bottom of the roster guy to lose. 

Conversely, the owners have TV contracts coming up in 2021, '22, and '24. They want labor peace going into those negotiations. Anything they give the players, they can go back to the networks and try to get it back from them in short order. The owners aren't hurting for money, but they might if they decide to damage the brand. 

I think this union email is largely designed to get the players ready to accept a deal. Once you start thinking about losing a year's pay, you start being more willing to make concessions to remain employed.  

Painfully naive ...

[rex-n-effect]

The NFLPA is only going to invoke a work stoppage under the most extreme conditions--at this point this is just posturing during negotiations. 

Taking a year off would be good for most players who could give their bodies time to heal and make health decisions that do not depend upon being ready to perform nine months of every year. Most players cannot afford to make those decisions because teams would fill their positions but with the entire league's players out they could. Certainly some players would not remain in a training and conditioning program of their own and come back in poor shape but the majority would. 

[chirorob]

17 hours ago, Mike135 said:

Good thinking.  If players are prepped and ready for a year or two of not playing, really gives the NFLPA a huge advantage.

If the owners know the players are ready to sit for years, should hopefully help negotiations go smoothly.

If the owners think they have the upper hand on the players however, we could be without football for a while.

If it is a full year, some of the older players will retire.

It will really crush down on the 1st and 2nd rounders on their rookie deals.

[Ohio State NY Jets fan]

15 hours ago, sec101row23 said:

Paying college players would have zero affect on the NFL.   You only have 4 years of eligibility and can’t declare for the draft until you are 3 years removed from high school.   It’s only an extra year, sometimes 2 if they were redshirted, that they could stay.  

If they are paying players vs scholarships, is there really a 4 year limit if they are attending school and making progress towards a degree, just saying it opens the door for players who might make more at a top school vs being a 6th or 7th round pick...

[jetstream23]

On 5/28/2019 at 3:07 PM, jetscrazey said:

Count on a work stoppage.  What the players want is probably more than what the owners are willing to give easily.

The major points will be guaranteed contracts and possibly an 18 game regular season, and the owners may dangle stopping marijuana testing as a tradeoff.

My opinion/guesses - Preseason games continue to be a problem and of little interest to most fans.  Expanding the playoffs, which I'm against, is an option to add more revenue (mostly from TV and advertising).  All contracts should become guaranteed for confirmed injury only.  Marijuana testing will eventually go away, following the general trend in the country towards legalization.