There Is A God!!! And He Heard Our Prayers!!! -- Are You Ready For Some Football???

Football is back!!!  Today, after a weekend of deliberating and hammering out final - final details, the NFLPA (NFL Players Association) voted unanimously to approve the new 10-year collective bargaining agreement that was approved late last week by the NFL owners.  In an early post, I outlined the main points of the proposed, now final, CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) and gave my opinion on them, so I won't bore you with that again.  But I will very quickly hit on some hidden points that went unnoticed in the new CBA. 

At the request of my great friend, Chris Carlson, better known as "Teach" to the 8 people who read this blog; he forwarded me an article from NBC Sports titled, "Seven things you may have missed in the new CBA" and had asked for my opinion.  Below are the seven points and my take on them.

1. There won’t be hitting for the first three days of training camp this year.  (That includes arrival day and two days of practices.)

Take - No big deal.  While I'm sure there is plenty of rust on these players, and the rookies will be excited to get on the field to earn roster spots and learn plays, word has it that a lot of older veterans rather enjoyed the lengthy because it gave them additional time to rest their bodies. 

2. Teams have 17 days to sign restricted free agents from other teams to offer sheets after the league year starts. In practice, we don’t expect much RFA movement this year, if any.

Take - Restricted free agents are hardly ever signed away from their original teams anyways.  Teams who try to sign restricted free agents general have to over compensate for a restricted free agent in order to prevent the team of origin to match the offer.  If anything, I like this because it means more quick action, player movement.  NFL Network ratings are shooting up the roof as we speak. 

3. Teams have until September 20 to sign their franchise players to long-term deals.  This timeline has obviously been pushed back quite a bit by the lockout.

Take - Not sure who this effects more: the players who are labeled with the franchise tag or the teams. 

4. While the CBA ends after the 2020 season, the 2021 draft is included in the deal.  That’s the same setup we had this year; the draft wasn’t affected by the lack of an agreement.

Take - I'm happy about this, as I am a draft honk and would hate for there not to be a draft because of another lockout.  The draft this year, despite the lockout, was still just as exciting as it always is.

5. Minimum salaries are going up $50,000, and will continue to increase. This is a huge gain for a lot of players.  Almost half the league has a minimum salary.

Take - I'm really happy about this.  I'm mostly pro player in all labor and contract disputes, especially for NFL players.  Of the three major sports, NFL players are the least compensated and paid for the amount of "work" they are asked to perform.   

6. The franchise tag will be calculated differently.  NFL legal counsel Jeff Pash indicated the tags will be calculated as a percentage of the salary cap, rather than the average of top ten players.  We’re looking to find out exactly how this works.

Take - Not sure how this will work as well.  Is it a percentage of the teams overall salary cap or a percentage of how much a team is under the salary cap??  Confusing.  Not a math major here. 

7. There will be no judicial oversight of the CBA. “Neutral arbitrators jointly appointed by the NFL and NFLPA will resolve disputes as appropriate.”

Take - This is a much better process.  Taking disputes out of the hands of the judicial process and into arbitrators will help streamline the process. 


Now that I touched on the hidden aspects of the new CBA, it's time to talk some real, pure, unadulterated NFL Football.  I've been waiting all summer for this!!!  And this will undoubtedly be the most exciting and unprecedented free agent offseason in the history of NFL Football.  Let it begin. 

I anticipate a lot of player movement, as the free agent window is very small and time is short.  While the free agent class starts and ends with Nnamdi Asomugha, the player movement will be fast and furious, which will make for a great month of free agent signings.  First, teams will have to scramble to sign their drafted rookies to contracts, as well as sign up some undrafted rookies to free agent contracts.  Then teams will have to meet the new salary cap minimum that their payroll must be above, so teams will be looking to make quality offers to high-priced free agents who they are targeting. To give you an example, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now $50+ million under the new salary cap and have to use that money on players to meet the minimum, instead of pocketing for profit.  They will definitely be a front-runner in the Nnamdi Asomugha race.  They are so far down that they could probably sign Nnamdi as well as another couple mid-tier free agents, and really improve on their already playoff caliber roster. 

And as always, there will definitely be cap causality players for those teams well over the new salary cap.  While cap causalities aren't new to the NFL offseason, this is much different.  Players and coaches weren't allowed to meet and or hold organized training camps together during the lockout, so coaches and front offices are having to judge their roster talent blindly.  If a team is over the salary cap and has to make roster cuts, it will make for some interesting and maybe surprising roster moves.  The Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, for example, are two teams that are $14+ million over the new salary cap and will most definitely have to make some roster cuts to get below that figure.  They will also have to make additional cuts to get even further below the salary cap if they plan on signing their own free agents or any other teams' free agents. 

If one thing was proved certain today, it was this:  THERE IS A GOD!!!  AND HE HEARD OUR PRAYERS!!!  ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL???


Mr. Armchair Speaking