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The Grand Poobah
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Upshaw prepared for anything
5:50 PM Wed, Feb 20, 2008 | Permalink
Albert Breer
NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw isn't exactly feeling froggy about where the long-standing labor peace the league has enjoyed is going.
In fact, he showed just about zero optimism when looking toward Nov. 8, which is looking more and more like the next watershed moment in the ongoing saga over the current CBA. That's when the owners can opt out of the deal, and it's looking like that's just what they'll do.
"Someone asked me morning, what's the biggest issue, why is this such a problem now?" Upshaw told us. "I said it's very easy. The owners feel as if they're giving the players too much and the players should give some back, so Jerry Jones and (Bob) Kraft and the rest of them can make more money. That's not happening."
The names "Jones" and "Kraft" were accidental, and just as easily could've been "Snyder" and "Lurie". Upshaw's saying what, really, is already known. Big-revenue owners feel the league's version of revenue sharing is simply too generous, and without revenue sharing to this level, it's difficult to have all the teams spending on the level the players want.
"As I told the players this fall, the owners don't like paying the players, but what they really dislike more than anything else is having to share with each other, as part of the revenue sharing," Upshaw says. "That is where the rub comes in. But there's not much we can do about that."
If the owners vote to opt out of the CBA on Nov. 8, then 2010 becomes the final year of the deal. By definition, the final year of this agreement will be an uncapped season There's also a similar option in the CBA on Nov. 8, 2009, that would make 2011 an uncapped season.
So by voting to veto the deal -- something the high-earning owners are looking to do -- the NFL has a de facto deadline of early March 2010 to hammer out a deal with its union, or face the specter of the salary cap going away for good. Because as Upshaw and so many others have said, if the cap goes away for a year, it's gone, period.
At this point, Upshaw says his priority is still to make a deal happen. But he's not real hopeful on that right now.
"I still believe it's going to be difficult to work (the issues) out," Upshaw said. "I have to believe the owners are hellbent for an election to get out of the deal early. They're going to do that, they've boasted about it, they've pounded their chest. ... It's clear in my mind that's where all of this is headed."
Upshaw says all he can do now is educate the players, with de-certification being a primary option and strong source of leverage, on the future.
"We've got time," Upshaw said. "Just because they pull the plug and try to end the deal early doesn't mean it ends the day they do it. It means it will end after the 2010 season. We have time to continue to educate the players, which we will do and we've already started.
"Now, we're gonna have 25 percent new players on every team, so we've got to start over. We're also dealing with a group of players who have never been through a strike, never been through a lockout, and never been through a de-certification. I have my work cut out as far as where I have to spend my time and I have to do it because these are really, really critical issues."
5:50 PM Wed, Feb 20, 2008 | Permalink
Albert Breer
NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw isn't exactly feeling froggy about where the long-standing labor peace the league has enjoyed is going.
In fact, he showed just about zero optimism when looking toward Nov. 8, which is looking more and more like the next watershed moment in the ongoing saga over the current CBA. That's when the owners can opt out of the deal, and it's looking like that's just what they'll do.
"Someone asked me morning, what's the biggest issue, why is this such a problem now?" Upshaw told us. "I said it's very easy. The owners feel as if they're giving the players too much and the players should give some back, so Jerry Jones and (Bob) Kraft and the rest of them can make more money. That's not happening."
The names "Jones" and "Kraft" were accidental, and just as easily could've been "Snyder" and "Lurie". Upshaw's saying what, really, is already known. Big-revenue owners feel the league's version of revenue sharing is simply too generous, and without revenue sharing to this level, it's difficult to have all the teams spending on the level the players want.
"As I told the players this fall, the owners don't like paying the players, but what they really dislike more than anything else is having to share with each other, as part of the revenue sharing," Upshaw says. "That is where the rub comes in. But there's not much we can do about that."
If the owners vote to opt out of the CBA on Nov. 8, then 2010 becomes the final year of the deal. By definition, the final year of this agreement will be an uncapped season There's also a similar option in the CBA on Nov. 8, 2009, that would make 2011 an uncapped season.
So by voting to veto the deal -- something the high-earning owners are looking to do -- the NFL has a de facto deadline of early March 2010 to hammer out a deal with its union, or face the specter of the salary cap going away for good. Because as Upshaw and so many others have said, if the cap goes away for a year, it's gone, period.
At this point, Upshaw says his priority is still to make a deal happen. But he's not real hopeful on that right now.
"I still believe it's going to be difficult to work (the issues) out," Upshaw said. "I have to believe the owners are hellbent for an election to get out of the deal early. They're going to do that, they've boasted about it, they've pounded their chest. ... It's clear in my mind that's where all of this is headed."
Upshaw says all he can do now is educate the players, with de-certification being a primary option and strong source of leverage, on the future.
"We've got time," Upshaw said. "Just because they pull the plug and try to end the deal early doesn't mean it ends the day they do it. It means it will end after the 2010 season. We have time to continue to educate the players, which we will do and we've already started.
"Now, we're gonna have 25 percent new players on every team, so we've got to start over. We're also dealing with a group of players who have never been through a strike, never been through a lockout, and never been through a de-certification. I have my work cut out as far as where I have to spend my time and I have to do it because these are really, really critical issues."
