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NEW YORK (AP) — Less than two weeks before some training camps are
scheduled to open, the NFL remains in labor limbo, with only the
lawyers for both sides meeting.
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Attorneys met Monday in New York to clarify language from previous
discussions, and will do so again Tuesday. Originally, owners and
players were to get together for more negotiations Tuesday, but now
won’t do so before Wednesday.
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Several issues are close to resolution, the most significant being
the split of total revenues between owners and players.
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But snags involving a rookie wage scale, free agency rules and
benefits for retired players have slowed the process. While the
league’s negotiators hope they can present a new collective
bargaining agreement to all the owners at their July 21 meeting in
Atlanta, not striking a deal before then figures to cause
postponement of the start of training camps, and probably
cancellation of the Hall of Fame game Aug. 7 in Canton,
Ohio.
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The St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears are set to play in that game,
and both teams planned to open training camp at the end of next
week.
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The NFL would need about a week to get the new deal ratified and in
place, meaning teams couldn’t start signing free agents or
draftees, make trades or begin workouts until the end of the month.
That would jeopardize the first weekend of exhibition games, Aug.
11-15, at a cost of upward of $60 million in overall
revenues.
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Commissioner Roger Goodell and several owners will negotiate with
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and members of the
players’ executive board later this week. Extensive negotiations
last Thursday and Friday seemed promising, but the parties were
unable to close the gap on the rookie wage scale – a subject that
wasn’t nearly as contentious in earlier sessions.
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At issue is how many first-round picks would fall under the wage
scale, and the length of contracts teams could offer those rookies.
The savings on salaries were supposed to go to veteran players and
toward retirees’ benefits.
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Some player agents, particularly those who often represent high
draft picks, have opposed a rookie wage scale, saying it eventually
would limit earning power for all players.
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One proposal, according to a person familiar with the negotiations,
would limit the top overall pick to about $7 million a year for
five years, with the option to renegotiate after the third year.
Sam Bradford signed with St. Louis in 2010 for $78 million over six
years, including a record $50 million in guaranteed money. Under
that system, this year’s first selection, Auburn quarterback Cam
Newton, would have exceeded those numbers.
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The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated
Press because details of the negotiations are supposed to be
private, said minimum salaries for players in their first four
years would increase from 17 percent in their first year to 12
percent in their fourth year.
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The players insist that unrestricted free agency begin after four
seasons, as it did before 2010 when there was a salary cap. Owners,
naturally, prefer the six-year minimum in place in 2010 (without a
salary cap), and also would like more than the one
right-of-first-refusal transition tag they had under the previous
CBA.
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Each side remains divided on how a “legacy fund” for retired
players would be financed, as well.
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This week’s talks will be held without Judge Arthur Boylan, the
court-appointed mediator who is on vacation. He has ordered both
sides to be in his court in Minneapolis on July 19 to continue
negotiations while hoping a deal gets done before he
returns.
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Should negotiations last beyond July 19 – or the owners’ meeting
two days later – that could lead to even deeper cuts in the
preseason.
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