NFL Players Association team player reps are scheduled to meet in a conference call Friday morning as the players work to finalize an agreement with the team’s owners on the season’s rules and finances. 2020 of the NFL, according to sources.
Sources said the two sides were still negotiating Thursday night on at least three key points:
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Rules for the acclimatization period of the training camp.
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Procedures through which players could choose not to participate in the season for reasons related to the coronavirus and what would happen to the contracts of those who do.
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How to manage the league’s long-term finances and salary limits for future years following the projected loss of income for 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sources on both sides of the talks said the hope was to have everything ready by the time the teams report to camp. But with players from the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs slated to report this weekend and begin COVID-19 testing, the window to do so is shrinking.
The biggest problem of the three mentioned above seems to be the last one. NFL team owners are projecting a significant amount of lost revenue this season as a result of having to play in empty or partially full stadiums. Estimates of those losses vary, but most expectations place it at between $ 3 billion and $ 4 billion, which would represent about 20-25% of the league’s revenue for the year. And of course those losses would be greater if the games had to be canceled.
Since the salary cap is tied to league earnings, a loss in earnings would likely mean a reduction of next year’s cap. Sources say the owners ‘initial proposal was to absorb the cap reached this year and next, keeping a percentage of players’ 2020 earnings in custody and lowering next year’s salary cap according to the losses. This year’s salary cap is $ 198.2 million per team. If the revenue loss projections are accurate and no other action is taken, next year’s limit could fall in the range of $ 120 million to $ 130 million per team.
This would make things difficult for a number of teams and would likely result in the release of large numbers of players or the teams dropping their salaries below the drastically reduced limit. For that reason, the players’ initial proposal was to smooth capitalization reductions during the term of the new collective bargaining agreement, which runs through the 2030 season. As a (very) rough example, instead of eliminating $ 70 million from Next year’s limit, they would divide $ 70 million by 10 and apply a reduction of $ 7 million per year until the end of CBA.
The likely result is a compromise that spreads the impact over several years between the proposals of the two parties. A source said current discussions revolve around a minimum wage in the affected years. (Example: if projected losses would reduce the 2021 limit to $ 130 million but the agreed “floor” for 2021 was $ 160 million, the limit would be set at $ 160 million and the other $ 30 million would need to be similarly offset fashion in future years.)
As for the other two issues, the opt-out procedures / payments and the acclimatization period to the training camp, sources say they remain tied to the financial side of the long-term negotiations. A party may concede to one of those issues in exchange for a concession in the salary cap discussions.
Earlier this week, the owners proposed an acclimatization period to the training camp that was closer to what the players had asked for. Players want to start camp with 21 days of strength and conditioning exercises, followed by 10 days of pad-free practice, followed by a 14-day contact acclimatization period in which padded practices would be allowed.
As for the opt-out, players were informed in a conference call earlier this week of a proposal that would pay stipends of $ 250,000 to players on the active roster (and stipends of $ 100,000 for practice squad players). who chose not to participate because they were at one of the highest defined levels. COVID-19 risk groups (such as BMI over 28 or sleep apnea, for example).
But players want better protections and answers about what happens to their wages if they start the season but can’t finish it. Those issues are still being negotiated along with broader financial concerns.
Tuesday is the reporting date for all teams except Houston and Kansas City (which report earlier because they are scheduled to play the opening game on Thursday night). In accordance with the COVID-19 test protocols announced earlier this week, players will be screened on their first day, quarantined at home for the next two days, re-screened on Day 4, and then allowed to enter the facilities for the physical exams of the training camp on day 5 only if both tests are negative. Players will be evaluated every day for the first two weeks of camp, then every other day thereafter, provided their team’s positive evaluation rate is less than 5%.
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