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NEW YORK (AP) — Significant progress on a major sticking point in
the NFL labor impasse – soaring rookie salaries – during marathon
talks Thursday raised hopes that a tentative agreement in principle
could perhaps come within 24 hours, according to two people
familiar with the negotiations.
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They cautioned, however, that other key issues remained for owners
and players to resolve, including free agency and new offseason
workout rules.
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The people spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of
anonymity because the negotiations aimed at ending the NFL’s
four-month-long lockout are supposed to be confidential.
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After meeting for nearly 15 hours Thursday, NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell, NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith, players and
owners were back at the negotiating table Friday as they attempted
to end the sport’s first work stoppage since 1987.
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“I know our fans are frustrated and want (us) to get it done,”
Smith said as he entered the Times Square office building where the
negotiations were being held. “We’ll get everything to the players
when the time is right.”
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Talks gained steam in May, overseen by a court-appointed mediator,
U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, who is on vacation this week.
Boylan ordered both sides to meet with him in Minneapolis early
next week, and the owners have a special meeting set for next
Thursday in Atlanta, where they potentially could ratify a new
deal.
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Any agreement also must be voted on by groups of players, including
the named plaintiffs in a class-action antitrust lawsuit pending in
federal court and the NFLPA’s 32 team representatives.
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Baltimore Ravens defensive back Domonique Foxworth emphasized that
when the last of the participants left after 11:30 p.m. Thursday,
saying “there’s really no deal until our players approve
it.”
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Even once an agreement in principle on the core economic issues is
drawn up, there will be more work to be done. That’s because there
are certain issues that won’t be addressed in full until after the
NFLPA re-establishes itself as a union – a process that might take
a couple of days – and can then serve once again as a collective
bargaining unit for the players.
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Items that could fall under that umbrella include the league’s
drug-testing program, health insurance, retired players’ pensions
and other benefits, none of which is likely to be resolved
completely while the union is still dissolved.
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There’s also a chance the players could pursue a lockout injunction
for rookies and free agents after an appeals court ruled last week
that the work stoppage could continue.
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The NFL locked out players in March, after negotiations broke down
and the old collective bargaining agreement expired, and now the
preseason is fast approaching. The need to arrive at a deal becomes
greater with each passing day.
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The Hall of Fame game that opens the exhibition season is scheduled
for Aug. 7 between the St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears, who hope
to be able to start training camp at the end of next week. Yet
camps will not open without a new CBA in place.
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Disruptions to the planned preseason schedule would decrease the
overall revenue pie – by tens or hundreds of millions of dollars,
depending on how many games are canceled. The parameters for how to
divide the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues have been
sketched out, but remaining hurdles include the owners’ desire to
have more right-of-first-refusal tags for unrestricted free
agents.
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The players want to get back to free agency rules similar to 2009,
when a four-year veteran whose contract expired was unrestricted.
That minimum shifted to six years in 2010, when there was no salary
cap because owners already had declared they were opting out of the
old CBA.
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On rookie salaries, four people familiar with the talks said
Thursday that first-round draft picks will sign four-year contracts
with a club option for a fifth year. That represents a compromise;
owners were hoping for five-year contracts, while players wanted
highly drafted rookies to be under a team’s control for only four
years.
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NFL owners have long sought to restrict the huge bonuses and
salaries paid to unproven rookies, particularly those selected at
the top of the draft. Quarterback Sam Bradford, taken No. 1 overall
in 2010 by the St. Louis Rams, signed a six-year, $78 million
contract that included a record $50 million in guaranteed
money.
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Under the system discussed Thursday, people told the AP, clubs will
have an option for a fifth year on a rookie’s contract for a
predetermined amount based on the player’s performance during the
previous years of the deal.
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This week’s talks in New York began Monday with two days of
meetings involving primarily lawyers. Wednesday’s face-to-face
session that was attended by Goodell, Smith, owners and players
went nearly 11 hours.
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On Thursday, Goodell was joined by eight of the 10 members of the
owners’ labor committee, including Jerry Jones of the Dallas
Cowboys and John Mara of the New York Giants. Two new participants
Thursday were Green Bay Packers CEO Mark Murphy and San Diego
Chargers owner Dean Spanos.
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Smith’s group included Foxworth, Indianapolis Colts center Jeff
Saturday, and Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora. Umenyiora is one
of the 10 named plaintiffs in the antitrust case against the
league.
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—
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Pro Football Writers Howard Fendrich and Barry Wilner contributed
to this report.
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