The CBA is going to get nasty. On the money side, ratings are falling and the NFL's lifeblood of network TV revenue is just about tapped out. And there are some huge grievances on the players' end that they're going to fight - drug policy, arbitrary commish suspensions, Thursday night games that get a ton of players injured coming off short weeks - it's going to be a mess. I honestly think those negotiations could make or break the future of the sport.
I respectfully disagree.
I think the players will get pantsed again, just like they did the last time.
And here's why:
On one side of the table, you have
billionaire owners, each and every one set for life with more money that they or their heirs could ever spend. They could never make another dime and be just fine in life. The NFL could shut down tomorrow and every one of these guys would be just fine.
On the other side? You have players who blow through millions of dollars every year as if it was Monopoly money. People who "take care of" every friend and backwoods relative they have. Millionaires who for the most part still manage to live paycheck to paycheck.
You can go back and look at the lengths players were going during the last CBA negotiations in order to get some fast cash. It was ridiculous. And those same broke player were running to their union reps screaming to get a deal done and get that money coming in again.
Nothing has changed, and nothing will. The owners run the league with an iron fist and that's not going to change, unless someone else steps up with an awful lot of money to challenge the NFL. But at this point, everyone else is a penny-pinching cheapskate unwilling to take the risk of actually challenging.