CBA Talks Extended By NFL & NFLPA
WASHINGTON (CBS4) - The National Football League and the NFL Players Association continued to step away from the brink of disaster Friday when both sides extended collective bargaining negotiations until next Friday.
"We believe that, as I've said many times before, that this will be solved through negotiations and that's what we're focused on," said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. "We'll continue to work hard, and we'll be back next week."
The NFL has become the most popular sport in the country largely because of the labor peace that has been in place since the player's strike in 1987.
"We look forward to a deal coming out of that (further negotiations,)" said NFLPA executive director DeMaruice Smith.
Smith has reportedly radically changed the owners' view of him in the last 48 hours and it's looking like he and Goodell are forging a relationship that can get a deal done.
The talks are hung up on a few issues including revenue sharing, a rookie wage scale, an 18 game season, and benefits for retired players.
The owners want roughly $2 billion back from the players, but the players want a bigger percentage of the remaining revenue to help offset that money being returned. The NFL was set to have access to $4 billion worth of television revenue, but a judge has blocked the owners' access to the money.
That created a desire for the owners to get a deal done because several owners have large mortgage payments on their stadium and without the television revenue, they ran the risk of defaulting on their bills.
For now, teams will be able to talk with their players over the next week, which will allow some coaches to give quarterback's their offenses so that players can work independently on learning the offense; much like Chad Henne is planning on doing with the Dolphins.
Things appear to be moving in a positive direction, but as with any negotiations, it could change very quickly.
But, both sides seem to realize that they don't want to screw up the most popular sport, and neither side wants to go through a lockout or a vicious antitrust lawsuit.
