Man. Gone a few days and the NFL turns upside down. To find out who-went-where at a glance, I went to NFL.com. This is what I learned:
Mike Anderson signed with Baltimore away from Denver.
Egderin James is now with the Arizona Cardinals! (I guess he doesn't want a Super Bowl ring after all!)
John Kitna bolted Cincinnati for The Detroit Lions, leaving the Bengals in the hunt for a quaterback to spell the healing Carson Palmer.
The Bengals signed Super Bowl XXXIV MVP Defensive Back Dexter Jackson away from the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Drew Brees is now a New Orleans Saint, which eliminates their need to draft a quarterback.
The Oakland Raiders have done nothing on the free agency market -- yet.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Patriots cut LB McGinest after 12 seasons
NFL.com wire reports
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (March 9, 2006) -- The New England Patriots released linebacker Willie McGinest in a salary-cap move, ending a 12-year relationship with the NFL's all-time postseason sack leader.
The release of the two-time Pro Bowler was announced March 9, the day after the NFL owners voted 30-2 at their meeting in Grapevine, Texas, to extend the collective bargaining agreement with the players for six more years, resulting in a new salary cap figure of $102 million.
The 34-year-old McGinest carried a salary cap figure of more than $7 million for next season. The veteran linebacker is now a free agent and can sign with any team, including New England.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (March 9, 2006) -- The New England Patriots released linebacker Willie McGinest in a salary-cap move, ending a 12-year relationship with the NFL's all-time postseason sack leader.
The release of the two-time Pro Bowler was announced March 9, the day after the NFL owners voted 30-2 at their meeting in Grapevine, Texas, to extend the collective bargaining agreement with the players for six more years, resulting in a new salary cap figure of $102 million.
The 34-year-old McGinest carried a salary cap figure of more than $7 million for next season. The veteran linebacker is now a free agent and can sign with any team, including New England.
NFL Adopts "Baseball Style" Revenue Sharing Adjustment - Observation
The new NFL CBA includes and adjustment where the richest revenue teams place a portion of their revenues into a pool which is then used by the smaller revenue organizations. This is very much like the system in the current Major League Baseball Collective Bargaining Agreement, but the percentage of the top-tier-teams revenue gotten is not as great.
Commissioner Tagliabue Press Conference, Special League Meeting, Dallas Texas, March 8, 2006
This from NFL Media.com today
Commissioner Tagliabue:
We just concluded two long days of meetings. Last night we went until about 1 a.m., and this morning we started around 7 a.m. and finished at about 6:59 and 59 seconds before the 7 p.m. deadline. The membership approved the Collective Bargaining Agreement and accepted the offer of the Players Association for the six-year extension of the Collective
Bargaining Agreement by a vote of 30 in favor and two voting against.
It was really a tremendous effort by owners across the entire spectrum of the league, no matter how you define the spectrum – whether it's in terms of longevity, whether it's in terms of big-market, small-market or high-revenue, low-revenue. Everyone came together after these two full days of discussions and reached a consensus not only on the Collective Bargaining Agreement, but on some major new revenue-sharing features to support the ability of all teams to function well under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The consensus was forged really by all 32, but nine teams worked this afternoon to take two different concepts that had evolved over the last two days and meld it into one concept. The first concept had been developed in the last two days by the New York Jets and the New England Patriots, Woody Johnson and Jonathan Kraft. The second concept had been developed by the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, particularly Art Rooney and Ravens President Dick Cass. Then over the luncheon hour, three other owners spoke with me about a concept for putting together the two proposals, the two
different sets of ideas, and a process to take the Jets-Patriots concept and the Ravens-Steelers concept and blend it into one.
Those three owners were John Mara, Jerry Richardson and Pat Bowlen. Then when we resumed this afternoon, all of those owners plus Jerry Jones and Arthur Blank played a critical role. We ended up with one single resolution that brought all of the different ideas together. It was sponsored by the nine teams that I just mentioned: Giants, Steelers, Patriots, Ravens, Falcons, Panthers, Broncos, Jets and Cowboys. And that's what we presented to the membership and explained it. Once it was all explained, we had the vote and it was adopted without any changes. The blending of the two proposals into one, which was developed this afternoon between 3:15 and 6 p.m., was accepted on the basis that it was presented and developed by those nine teams. In addition to Art Rooney, Dan Rooney was involved in that process. In addition to Arthur Blank, Rich McKay was involved in that process, plus all the owners I've already mentioned. I'll be glad to take questions.
Q: Can you discuss the new revenue sharing agreement?
PT: The revenue sharing basically is a commitment of almost $500 million over the first four years of the deal and then several hundred million additional dollars over the last two years of the deal. I think the total amount over the life of the deal gets to over $850 or $900 million of incremental revenue sharing to be funded in some significant degree by the high-revenue clubs. "High-revenue" includes the top five, the next group, six through 10, and to a lesser degree the clubs who rank 11 through 15. All of those clubs in differing proportions ended up making the alliance or the commitment to fund the
revenue sharing.
Q: How will those funds be redistributed among the membership?
PT: The lower-revenue teams will draw from that fund. The overall concept was geared to the idea that when a team spends to the midpoint between the salary cap and cash over the cap on an average basis, to spend to that level a team should not have to spend more than a specified percentage of its own revenue. So there is an objective standard in there.
Q: What number, percentage-wise, is fair or equitable?
PT: The target in this concept was 65 percent maximum, as a percentage of your own revenues. Of course, the players are getting an unprecedented high level of total revenue, approaching 60 percent of the total.
Q: What will the salary cap be for the 2006 season?
PT: The salary cap for 2006 will $102 million and for 2007 be $109 million.
Q: When will the free agency period begin?
PT: Free agency is going to begin after a 48-hour hiatus, so that clubs can use the additional funding within this cap to re-sign players rather than release players, if that's the way they choose to proceed.
Q: Can you describe some of the other landmark changes that are included in this new CBA?
PT: There are several major features, a lot of major features. There is a significantly expanded post-career medical coverage for players. They already have five years postcareer. There is a healthcare-IRA-type element set aside that the players will get funded in proportion to the length of their career. It's quite a significant improvement in benefits.
The franchise player rules basically stay as they are with some minor tweaking. For the first time a player is tagged and the second time a player is tagged, then in the eventuality, which is very rare, that a player would be tagged a third time, the structure has been modified so as to virtually ensure that in the future there would not be any three time tags, that players and clubs would be able to work out multi-year agreements, including signing bonuses, either the first time a player was tagged or the second time a player was tagged.
Another change is that drafted players in rounds two through seven will have a maximum contract length of four years. Someclubs have been signing players to five and six-year contracts. That had become an issue with the Players Association in this negotiation relative to the concept of free agency after four years. We agreed there would be a maximum contract length of four years for players drafted in rounds two through seven. The first round can still be negotiated with longer deals.
Q: Any changes in terms of club disciplinary procedures and forfeiting signing bonus?
PT: Yes. There are also provisions in there that modify the ground rules in terms of forfeiture of signing bonuses. There are also a number of areas that the discipline provided at the league level for the most part becomes the exclusive form of discipline, whether its suspension or fines, such as with the drug program and with other areas. League discipline would become exclusive.
Q: Any changes in the amount of the rookie salary pool?
PT: No. We had a lot of discussions about the rookie pool, but in the end I don't think we've made any changes.
Q: On the discipline aspect, you're saying that what Philadelphia did to Terrell Owens could no longer be an option?
PT: I'm not saying that. I'm saying that in certain areas we've modified what teams can negotiate. In certain other areas, we agreed that league discipline would be exclusive and that individual club contracts would not be individually negotiated departures from the league disciplinary pattern. That would not be permitted.
Q: You've said all along that this would get done at the 11th hour and 59th minute. It almost sounds like it was orchestrated.
PT: Do you have another question? Harold Henderson heads our Management Council and he had been hearing me say for several years that this would get done at the 11th hour and 59th minute. Frequently over dinner he'd say, "11th hour and 59th minute before what?" And I would say, "I don't know. It's just going to be at the 11th hour and the 59th minute."
Then the other night on Sunday when we had the second break off of negotiations and we were able to talk to Gene Upshaw late at night that his proposal would be presented, I think we got it done after 11 p.m. Then Harold finally said to me, "Now I know what you mean when you talk about the 11th hour and the 59th minute. We're now at the 11th hour and the 24th minute." So I say, "Wait until we get to Dallas. If we have more than 60 seconds to spare, it will be a miracle." And that's the way it turned out.
Q: How important is this new agreement to game of football and the league?
PT: I think it is important. Time will tell how important it is, but it was certainly an opportunity to continue building what we've been building. I think it's great for the fans. I think the quality of the game is at a tremendous level. The spread of talent around the league, the ability of teams to become competitive relatively quickly and to do what Marvin Lewis has done and what other coaches have done, it's a great thing. This preserves all of that. It continues with the elements that we have with the Players Association on the shared cost of constructing new stadiums. It continues a lot of our initiatives, Youth Football and other areas. So I think it's a very positive thing for the fans and the league generally even though it's a stretch from a financial standpoint for many, many teams in terms of the cost.
Q: Does this agreement affect the G-3 funding program for new stadiums?
PT: There are some changes in the G-3 funding program, yes. Basically it's an improvement.
Q: Are debts of some of the high-revenue teams addressed in this agreement?
PT: Not in any way that I could explain right now. We didn't get to the point of micromanaging the way teams operate. We set targets in terms of what should be a reasonable target that a club would have to spend on players to be competitive relative to its own revenues. Once we had that target agreed to, then we did a calculation, or thousands of calculations. Once you translated that target and tried to figure out how it would play out over the next six seasons, the question was, "What is the resulting revenue-sharing obligation that had to be funded?"
And that is what we funded. But we didn't get into micromanaging what teams do in order to generate revenue or to
figure out how to net out the costs of stadium construction, except in some of the structural elements of the agreement. There is a concept of TFR, which takes account of stadium construction costs, there's a G-3 credit that takes account of that, but we didn't micromanage what teams do. We want to have the right incentives for teams at every level, the right support through the league and to give great incentives for low-revenue teams to pick their revenue up, be it through new stadiums or other things. But it's not micromanaging.
Q: Beforehand, you had thought that revenue sharing did not necessarily have to be a part of this deal, but it is now part of the package. Can you discuss that?
PT: I always thought it would be part of the package. That was always my expectation.
Q: How pleased are you that this is done?
PT: I'm pleased, and more than pleased, I'm relieved.
###
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
NFL and Players Union Reach Agreement
And Raiders QB Kerry Collins remains with the Silver and Black. We''ll find out who's going where starting Friday.
NFL.com wire reports
GRAPEVINE, Texas (March 8, 2006) -- Labor peace was restored to the NFL when the owners agreed to the players union's proposal, extending the collective bargaining agreement for six years.
There were no further details on the agreement, or whether it includes expanded revenue sharing.
The vote was 30-2, with Buffalo and Cincinnati, two low-revenue teams, voting against the extension.
Free agency, put off twice by the protracted negotiations between the owners and players, now will start at 12:01 a.m. March 10.
"It was a good compromise," said Jim Irsay, owner of low-revenue Indianapolis. "We're happy with it -- 30-2 is a good vote."
The agreement comes after a week of on-again, off-again negotiations, culminating in a two-day owners meeting.
No agreement wouldn't have meant a work stoppage -- at least not for the next two years -- but it would have sent teams scrambling to get under a $94.5 million salary cap. That would have put a number of veterans on the street and it would've also limited the amount of money available for other free agents. And it would've led to an uncapped year in 2007.
Now the cap is expected to go up by as much as $10 million with an extension of the CBA in place.
The real debate was between the owners themselves on the important issue of expanded revenue sharing.
The revenue debate involves low-income teams such as Buffalo, Cincinnati and Indianapolis who say high-revenue teams -- Dallas, Washington and Philadelphia, for instance -- should contribute proportionately to the player pool because they can earn far more in nonfootball income such as advertising and local radio rights.
Those high-revenue teams might contribute only 10 percent of their outside money compared with 50 percent or more for low-revenue teams.
"Some teams are contributing a little more than others," Redskins owner Dan Synder said. "This is really a win-win."
Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, has insisted throughout more than a year of negotiations that the division between owners must be resolved before agreement could be reached on a contract extension.
NFL.com wire reports
GRAPEVINE, Texas (March 8, 2006) -- Labor peace was restored to the NFL when the owners agreed to the players union's proposal, extending the collective bargaining agreement for six years.
There were no further details on the agreement, or whether it includes expanded revenue sharing.
The vote was 30-2, with Buffalo and Cincinnati, two low-revenue teams, voting against the extension.
Free agency, put off twice by the protracted negotiations between the owners and players, now will start at 12:01 a.m. March 10.
"It was a good compromise," said Jim Irsay, owner of low-revenue Indianapolis. "We're happy with it -- 30-2 is a good vote."
The agreement comes after a week of on-again, off-again negotiations, culminating in a two-day owners meeting.
No agreement wouldn't have meant a work stoppage -- at least not for the next two years -- but it would have sent teams scrambling to get under a $94.5 million salary cap. That would have put a number of veterans on the street and it would've also limited the amount of money available for other free agents. And it would've led to an uncapped year in 2007.
Now the cap is expected to go up by as much as $10 million with an extension of the CBA in place.
The real debate was between the owners themselves on the important issue of expanded revenue sharing.
The revenue debate involves low-income teams such as Buffalo, Cincinnati and Indianapolis who say high-revenue teams -- Dallas, Washington and Philadelphia, for instance -- should contribute proportionately to the player pool because they can earn far more in nonfootball income such as advertising and local radio rights.
Those high-revenue teams might contribute only 10 percent of their outside money compared with 50 percent or more for low-revenue teams.
"Some teams are contributing a little more than others," Redskins owner Dan Synder said. "This is really a win-win."
Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, has insisted throughout more than a year of negotiations that the division between owners must be resolved before agreement could be reached on a contract extension.
Houston Texans Sign G Steve Mc Kinney and Plan To Go After Rams Isaac Bruce
This is from the Houston Chronicle's John Mc Clain. It also explains that The Texans will use the same zone blocking system that Denver used.
Here's the article, in case the Chron fails to maintain the link:
Although the start of free agency has been delayed a second time as owners and the NFL Players Association try to extend the collective bargaining agreement, it has not kept the Texans from doing business.
Although the Texans had no problem getting under the $94.5 million salary cap, general manager Charley Casserly will enter free agency with more revenue to spend because of the cap dollars freed up Tuesday by guard Steve McKinney's deal.
McKinney agreed on a four-year extension worth $9 million, including a $2 million bonus. It saves the Texans $2.2 million.
Meanwhile, the Texans are one of many teams interested in former St. Louis receiver Isaac Bruce, who was waived by the Rams when he declined to take a pay cut.
Although the Rams are hoping to re-sign Bruce, 33, he's going to test the market once the NFL allows free agency.
Because Jabar Gaffney and Corey Bradford will be unrestricted free agents, receiver is one of the Texans' priority positions this offseason. Without an extension of the CBA that would increase the salary cap at least another $10 million, it might be a long shot for the Texans to sign Bruce, who was limited to 36 catches for 525 yards and three touchdowns last season.
If the owners, who are meeting in a Dallas suburb, reject the union's latest proposal today, free agency will begin and teams can start bringing in players on Thursday.
Casserly and coach Gary Kubiak will be looking for help at receiver, tight end, defensive end, offensive line and linebacker.
The Texans tore up the last year of the five-year contract McKinney signed when he left Indianapolis for Houston in 2002 and gave him a new four-year deal. He was scheduled to make a base salary of almost $4 million.
"I was happy to do it, and it worked out to where it was fair to both sides," McKinney said. "I'm glad it's over so I can concentrate on football. I'm excited about our new coaches, and I'm fired up to start playing again and helping this team make the playoffs."
McKinney has two new offensive line coaches in Mike Sherman and John Benton. The Texans will play the same zone blocking scheme that Denver has made successful.
"I can't tell you how much it means to a new staff to have a veteran like Steve," coach Gary Kubiak said. "He was very unselfish last season when he moved from center to guard. We watched film of every play last season, and he just played so darn hard on all of them. Steve means a lot to what we hope to accomplish this season."
Here's the article, in case the Chron fails to maintain the link:
Although the start of free agency has been delayed a second time as owners and the NFL Players Association try to extend the collective bargaining agreement, it has not kept the Texans from doing business.
Although the Texans had no problem getting under the $94.5 million salary cap, general manager Charley Casserly will enter free agency with more revenue to spend because of the cap dollars freed up Tuesday by guard Steve McKinney's deal.
McKinney agreed on a four-year extension worth $9 million, including a $2 million bonus. It saves the Texans $2.2 million.
Meanwhile, the Texans are one of many teams interested in former St. Louis receiver Isaac Bruce, who was waived by the Rams when he declined to take a pay cut.
Although the Rams are hoping to re-sign Bruce, 33, he's going to test the market once the NFL allows free agency.
Because Jabar Gaffney and Corey Bradford will be unrestricted free agents, receiver is one of the Texans' priority positions this offseason. Without an extension of the CBA that would increase the salary cap at least another $10 million, it might be a long shot for the Texans to sign Bruce, who was limited to 36 catches for 525 yards and three touchdowns last season.
If the owners, who are meeting in a Dallas suburb, reject the union's latest proposal today, free agency will begin and teams can start bringing in players on Thursday.
Casserly and coach Gary Kubiak will be looking for help at receiver, tight end, defensive end, offensive line and linebacker.
The Texans tore up the last year of the five-year contract McKinney signed when he left Indianapolis for Houston in 2002 and gave him a new four-year deal. He was scheduled to make a base salary of almost $4 million.
"I was happy to do it, and it worked out to where it was fair to both sides," McKinney said. "I'm glad it's over so I can concentrate on football. I'm excited about our new coaches, and I'm fired up to start playing again and helping this team make the playoffs."
McKinney has two new offensive line coaches in Mike Sherman and John Benton. The Texans will play the same zone blocking scheme that Denver has made successful.
"I can't tell you how much it means to a new staff to have a veteran like Steve," coach Gary Kubiak said. "He was very unselfish last season when he moved from center to guard. We watched film of every play last season, and he just played so darn hard on all of them. Steve means a lot to what we hope to accomplish this season."
NFL Considering Union's Revenue Sharing Proposal In Dallas Now
After what was reported by ESPN's John Clayton to be a stirring speech by NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, the NFL's 32 owners are discussing the revenue sharing proposal presented by NFL PA Exec Director Gene Upshaw. The deadline for a deal is today.
More later.
More later.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
STATEMENT BY NFL EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF LABOR RELATIONS HAROLD HENDERSON
From NFL Media.com. In the photo, Henderson is between NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on the left and NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw on the right.
"The union rejected a proposal that would have increased player
compensation to unprecedented levels. Our offer would have added a minimum
of $1.5 billion in new dollars for players over the six years of the extension. It is
an unfortunate situation for the players, the fans, and the league."
In addition, Henderson noted that the NFL's offer would have increased
player compensation in 2006 by $577 million over 2005 and that there was no
discussion of revenue sharing with the union during today's negotiations, which
were broken off by the union.
NFL Network's Mike Mayock's "Vince Young Two Step" - Make Up Your Mind Dude
NFL Network's Mike Mayock says on the one hand that he doesn't care about Vince Young's Wonderlic score, which means he's not going to use it to question the Texas QB's learing ablity. But then he says "How many GMs are going to bet millions on a guy that may not become a sophistocated NFL quarterback."
Well, others are using his Wonderlic score to make the same statement.
When it comes to black QBs, Mayock seems to have a terrible bias which reads "He should be a wide receiver."
I will say this: the ability to teach is the measure of the football knoweldge of any coach. If they can't teach a talent -- a proven talent -- like Vince Young, then they're not good coaches. Period.
Remember, the Wonderlic does not deal with job-related questions in this case. There's not one football related question on it.
Well, others are using his Wonderlic score to make the same statement.
When it comes to black QBs, Mayock seems to have a terrible bias which reads "He should be a wide receiver."
I will say this: the ability to teach is the measure of the football knoweldge of any coach. If they can't teach a talent -- a proven talent -- like Vince Young, then they're not good coaches. Period.
Remember, the Wonderlic does not deal with job-related questions in this case. There's not one football related question on it.
Monday, March 06, 2006
NFL Deadline Now Thursday; Rams Release Isaac Bruce; Raiders Keep Collins for Now
The NFL reset its deadline for Thursday at 12 Midnight, givjng teams more time to work through contract restructuring and more time for the league to get it's CBA house in order.
The Rams released WR Isaac Bruce while the Raiders still held on the QB Kerry Collins. I think both teams will have their vets back if the CBA matter is cleared.
The Rams released WR Isaac Bruce while the Raiders still held on the QB Kerry Collins. I think both teams will have their vets back if the CBA matter is cleared.
Matt Birk: Matt Fires Off on NFL PA's Upshaw, But Makes No Sense In The Process
The "rant" he went on was just that, because Matt didn't explain exactly what Gene was doing wrong. Note to Matt: when you take time to call someone a name over the way they do a job, at least provide a detailed alternative approach. Or if you're trying to say "everything's fine" then say that, but it reads as if you're saying two messages at once: everything's fine and nothing's fine. Makes no sense to me.
But this rant is also a warning to Gene. It may be a style issue. If Gene is perceived as letting his ego get in the way of player's needs and is not appropriately accessible, it could cost him in the future.
Vikings' Birk rips NFL union boss Upshaw
‘What's going on right now is hurting all of us,’ says former Pro Bowler
NBCSports.com news services
Updated: 6:59 p.m. ET March 3, 2006
Minnesota Vikings center Matt Birk is not happy with the job being done by Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players' Association. Not at all.
Birk sounded off to columnist Mark Craig in Friday's edition of the Minnesota Star-Tribune.
"Don't put this in the paper ... no, wait, go ahead and put it in," Birk told Craig. "Gene Upshaw is a piece of (expletive). Too many guys in the league just accept whatever Gene says. I don't know why no one has called this guy out."
The former Pro Bowler believes the recent breakdown in negotiations between the NFL and the players' union is hurting the sport.
"It's a joke, it really is," Birk said in the paper. "Everyone is making money. A lot of money. You think anyone wants to hear about the money problems of the NFL owners or players? It's bad pub for the league. It's bad for all of us."
Birk, a Harvard graduate, says the prospects of a uncapped season -- something that could happen if a deal is not struck before the end of this weekend -- aren't good for everyone.
"When you go to those CBA meetings, you always feel like you're being sold something instead of being given the straight facts," Birk told the paper. "Through all the meetings leading up to this, it was always: 'The owners don't want an uncapped year. We'll get a deal, and if we don't, so what? There will be an uncapped year and there will be crazy money out there.'
"The reality is that's not the case. And you're seeing that it's not the leverage we were told it would be."
If there is no deal and the cap doesn’t increase, it would leave a glut of players on the free-agent market and many teams without much money to sign them. Next year, the final season of the contract, would be without a cap — and that would contain limitations that could hurt the players, such as raising the number of years of eligibility for free agency from four to six.
"And we'll lose some of our 401(k) and annuities, and some benefits, too," Birk said. "That's a huge deal to the younger guys making the minimum who might not have 10-year careers. Those are guys the union needs to look out for.
On the surface, the dispute is over percentage points -- the union says it wants 60-plus percent of league revenues earmarked for the players; the owners are offering 56.2 percent. That amounts to approximately $10 million per team per year.
"Gene thinks we're making all this money because of Gene Upshaw," Birk told the paper. "No, we're making all of this money because of TV. This sport is huge, and what's going on right now is hurting all of us."
But this rant is also a warning to Gene. It may be a style issue. If Gene is perceived as letting his ego get in the way of player's needs and is not appropriately accessible, it could cost him in the future.
Vikings' Birk rips NFL union boss Upshaw
‘What's going on right now is hurting all of us,’ says former Pro Bowler
NBCSports.com news services
Updated: 6:59 p.m. ET March 3, 2006
Minnesota Vikings center Matt Birk is not happy with the job being done by Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players' Association. Not at all.
Birk sounded off to columnist Mark Craig in Friday's edition of the Minnesota Star-Tribune.
"Don't put this in the paper ... no, wait, go ahead and put it in," Birk told Craig. "Gene Upshaw is a piece of (expletive). Too many guys in the league just accept whatever Gene says. I don't know why no one has called this guy out."
The former Pro Bowler believes the recent breakdown in negotiations between the NFL and the players' union is hurting the sport.
"It's a joke, it really is," Birk said in the paper. "Everyone is making money. A lot of money. You think anyone wants to hear about the money problems of the NFL owners or players? It's bad pub for the league. It's bad for all of us."
Birk, a Harvard graduate, says the prospects of a uncapped season -- something that could happen if a deal is not struck before the end of this weekend -- aren't good for everyone.
"When you go to those CBA meetings, you always feel like you're being sold something instead of being given the straight facts," Birk told the paper. "Through all the meetings leading up to this, it was always: 'The owners don't want an uncapped year. We'll get a deal, and if we don't, so what? There will be an uncapped year and there will be crazy money out there.'
"The reality is that's not the case. And you're seeing that it's not the leverage we were told it would be."
If there is no deal and the cap doesn’t increase, it would leave a glut of players on the free-agent market and many teams without much money to sign them. Next year, the final season of the contract, would be without a cap — and that would contain limitations that could hurt the players, such as raising the number of years of eligibility for free agency from four to six.
"And we'll lose some of our 401(k) and annuities, and some benefits, too," Birk said. "That's a huge deal to the younger guys making the minimum who might not have 10-year careers. Those are guys the union needs to look out for.
On the surface, the dispute is over percentage points -- the union says it wants 60-plus percent of league revenues earmarked for the players; the owners are offering 56.2 percent. That amounts to approximately $10 million per team per year.
"Gene thinks we're making all this money because of Gene Upshaw," Birk told the paper. "No, we're making all of this money because of TV. This sport is huge, and what's going on right now is hurting all of us."
Skip Bayless: Gene Upshaw's Selling NFL Players "Down The River"
On 1st and 10, an ESPN show, commentator Skip Bayless claims that NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw is selling the players "down the river" and should be seeking guaranteed player contracts. He claims that Gene's a tool of the NFL owners.
As usual, Skip's on the wrong side of the argument. Gene is mindful of how the pursuit of totally guaranteed contracts would not only eventually lead to a work stopage, but cut off his players from making money, and turn the fans -- most of which favor the owners position, further against the players in an age where people are just trying to get jobs.
Gene's doing the right thing and has a more complete vision of how to get this deal done.
