After securing a much-needed 24 hours of additional negotiations yesterday, both parties engaging in the CBA talks have decided on another extension as the threat of a lockout looms strong.
According to the Associated Press, the NFL and the NFL Players Association have agreed to a seven-day extension of the collective bargaining agreement. Talks are expected to continue Monday before a federal mediator as the new deadline is now next Friday (March 11) at midnight.
The announcement was made by the mediator, George Cohen, who had the approval of the owners’ labor committee and the union.
Until a new CBA is reached, any roster movement around the league is prohibited, meaning the start of free agency will be delayed in the meantime. It would explain why several teams scrambled to sign their own players long-term and even come to an agreement with a free agent (see: O.J. Atogwe and Washington).
If nothing is agreed to next Friday — either a new CBA or another extension — a lockout of the players would likely occur. Additionally, the union could decertify and even file a class-action, anti-trust lawsuit against the owners. As Yahoo! Sports’ Michael Silver put it, the entire scenario would be “Armageddon” for the league.
At this point, optimism remains on both sides that something will eventually get done. The main sticking points continue to be TV revenue, a rookie wage scale, and an 18-game season. It seems as if they’re making more progress than they have since the negotiations started.
The NFL draft is scheduled to begin on April 28 — here’s hoping there’s a resolution by then.
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Oops. You’re missing something. The NFLPA cannot decertify anymore. The extension was merely for the CBA, meaning that their biggest weapon — decertification — is now gone. They’ll have to wait six months to decertify, and what’s the point?