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NEW YORK (AP) — A rookie wage scale and free agency for veterans
appear to be the biggest stumbling blocks to ending the NFL
lockout.
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Several people with knowledge of the talks tell The Associated
Press that such key issues as splitting total revenues – the major
reason for the dispute – the salary cap, fewer offseason workouts
and the length of a new collective bargaining agreement are close
to being completed.
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The people spoke anonymously because details are supposed to remain
private.
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Owners and players are to meet again, beginning Tuesday, after two
days of long negotiations last week. Lawyers from both sides are to
meet Monday.
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The sticky topics include limits on rookie salaries and signing
bonuses. Another is the number of transition tags for free agents,
with right of first refusal.
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With training camps scheduled to open in less than two weeks for
some teams, time is growing short to reach an agreement to end the
nearly four-month lockout without a disruption to the preseason.
With court-appointed mediator Arthur Boylan on vacation this week,
the two sides plan to negotiate in New York, where last Friday
talks were slowed by differences over the rookie wage scale and
guidelines for unrestricted free agents.
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NFL owners have long sought to restrict the huge bonuses and
salaries paid to unproven rookies, particularly those selected high
in the draft. Quarterback Sam Bradford, the 2010 top overall pick
by St. Louis, signed a six-year, $78 million contract that included
a record $50 million in guaranteed money.
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The NFLPA insists that money diverted from the rookies go to
veteran players; some also would go for retired players’ benefits.
The main disagreement right now is how deep into the first round
the rookie wage scale would apply, perhaps eight picks, perhaps
twice that many. Some owners also are seeking longer contracts for
rookies.
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In addition, the owners are pushing for more restrictions in free
agency, which the players “vehemently oppose,” one of the people
familiar with the negotiations said.
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“Maybe for one year there might be an extended right of first
refusal as a compromise,” the person said.
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Would either side hold up a deal over that, especially with the
possibility of lost exhibition games no longer remote? NFL revenues
would be reduced by upward of $60 million for one weekend of
canceled preseason games. The first full weekend of exhibition play
is Aug. 11-15; the Hall of Fame game between the Chicago Bears and
St. Louis Rams is Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio.
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Who pays how much to a so-called “legacy fund” to help retired
players has become somewhat contentious. Originally, the funding
was to be 50-50 between the owners and the players. There has been
no agreement yet on that breakdown.
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Whenever a deal is struck, it will be anywhere from six to 10
years. It also will include mechanisms for ending the CBA early, as
happened with the 2006 agreement that the owners opted out of in
2008, leading to no salary cap in 2010 and, ultimately, to the
lockout.
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A topic on which there remains little disagreement is the salary
cap. Some owners are not thrilled with a salary floor that requires
teams spend up to 90 percent of the cap in cash on players’
salaries each year, but that is not expected to be a significant
hurdle.
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Players would receive around 48 percent of all league revenues,
which reached $9.3 billion last year, and the owners have dropped
their demand for money off the top before splitting income with the
players. There still will be some stadium credits for teams that
recently financed new homes or are planning to do so.
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An 18-game regular season still is favored by the owners, but has
been set aside for now.
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Reducing offseason workouts and minicamps, and the parameters for
drug testing are close to being resolved and not seen as major
roadblocks.
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Boylan has ordered the two sides to meet before him in Minneapolis
on July 19. He also made it clear that both sides should continue
their own sessions in the interim “in an effort to define and
narrow the differences between their respective settlement
positions.”
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He also ordered lawyers from both sides to be ready to meet with
him on the evening of July 18 for an “in-person agenda-setting
session” that presumably would set the stage for productive talks
the following day.
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The owners have a labor meeting scheduled for July 21 in
Atlanta.
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—
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AP Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this
story.
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