NFL stumbling blocks: free agency, rookie wages

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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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