Upshaw| "hold off on signing new contracts or restructuring deals until March 2"

[BigDFan5]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2340178


Upshaw tells agents that CBA talks are in standstill

By John Clayton
ESPN.com

http://log.go.com/log?srvc=sz&guid=...ileespn.com?campaign=mobile&source=insider_ah



At an NFLPA advisory board meeting of 16 handpicked agents, NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw told them to hold off on signing new contracts or restructuring deals until March 2, the evening before the start of 2006 free agency.
Upshaw told the agents there isn't any progress on a new collective bargaining agreement and he will not move back the start of free agency under any circumstance. Upshaw said Wednesday he would like to know by Friday when he holds an agents seminar whether there is a chance for a CBA extension.
One of the holdups in extension talks is revenue sharing among the owners. The high revenue teams have yet to cut a deal with the low revenue teams. Once that deal is arranged, Upshaw and the owners can cut a deal for what percentage of total gross revenues will be given to the players.
The players want a percentage of total gross revenues in the 60 percent or above range. Upshaw said he wants a number in the sixties.
"I won't do it, though, without revenue sharing," Upshaw said.
If it comes to Friday and there is no deal, Upshaw plans to tell agents to prepare for an uncapped year in 2007 and no collective bargaining agreement in 2008.
"I'm going to tell the agents to do deals as if there is no salary cap in 2007 if we don't have a deal by Friday," Upshaw said. "But under no circumstance will I move back the start of free agency."
Upshaw had a Wednesday afternoon negotiating session with several owners, including Jerry Jones of the Cowboys and Rams president John Shaw.
John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.








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Not looking good for the Skins in this scenario

 

[aikemirv]

Scare tactic by Upshaw - that is all this is IMO.

 

[CowboyWay]

Scare tactic by Upshaw - that is all this is IMO.

Couldn't agree more

 

[jksmith269]

Scare tactic by Upshaw - that is all this is IMO.

You know a lot of people said the same thing about Gary Beckman and the NHLPA rep up till the lockout last year in Hockey......

 

[david_jackson]

If Folks don't stat pulling thier heads out everyone will lose a lot of money. This playing chicken stuff where each side is convinced the other has to flinch is a recipe for disaster. The biggest problem here is the alot of the consequences are far off. The pocket books aren't being pinched yet. And after March 3 events start to unfold which make going back increasingly painful.

 

[aikemirv]

You know a lot of people said the same thing about Gary Beckman and the NHLPA rep up till the lockout last year in Hockey......

Well, I say this because the best interest of the free agents would be that if a CBA is not signed by 3/3 and they go ahead and delay the start of FA because a deal that is negotiated before the new salary cap will be less than one that gets signed after.

Therefore the best interest of the FA's is to delay the FA period if there is any chance that a deal would be done!

He is just trying to force the owners hand. If I were the owners and I knew I could sign players when my cap was at 92-95 million rather than a cap in the 110-115 range as some have suggested, I would do my best to sign my FA's early and then work a new CBA deal. The contracts would be done and at a less cost than one if the CBA were ratified by 3/3 with a huge salary cap increase.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think there will be a strike. I hope the owners stick to there guns when it comes. I hope the players are forced to come back and eat there words on salary demands. At some point, escalating salaries have to be brought under control. If they aren't, ticket prices and the like will continue to rise and we will ultimatly pay the price. Just let the networks go one season without real football and all of a sudden, there is going to be a great deal of pressure. Also, lets see just how poor these weak little sisters are in the NFL. I'm totally against subsidsing poor management. If a city can't support a team, move the team. Strike I say.

 

[lspain1]

You know a lot of people said the same thing about Gary Beckman and the NHLPA rep up till the lockout last year in Hockey......

Yes, but it was the owners who locked out the players in the NHL mess. The NHL needed a fundamental change in the percentage of money split between owners and players to survive. Right or wrong, the players did not accept that until it was forced upon them.

The NFL situation is fundamentally different. The owners are arguing among themselves how to divide up lucrative profits. The players are saying, if you want to keep a capped system negotiate in good faith with all of the revenue on the table. I'm not sure who loses in an uncapped system but I'm guessing its the small market teams. Not teams like the Cowboys and not the players. The league will lose popularity overall if it becomes uncompetitive, but that is a problem for down the road.

 

[AbeBeta]

Scare tactic by Upshaw - that is all this is IMO.

why would the NFLPA need to scare agents?

Part of Upshaw's job is advising agents regarding the status of the CBA -- he's simply telling them that at present there is no deal.

Oh yeah, there is no deal currently because the OWNERS can't agree with each other on revenue sharing. If you blame the player's union you are far far off base

 

[david_jackson]

There must be a limit to what reveue is shared....why would any owner finance a new stadium if he couldn't realize profits to pay it off.

 

[lspain1]

There must be a limit to what reveue is shared....why would any owner finance a new stadium if he couldn't realize profits to pay it off.

David, that's the thing....everybody is making money. The owners are arguing about those folks that happen to make more money than the rest.

 

[aikemirv]

why would the NFLPA need to scare agents?

Part of Upshaw's job is advising agents regarding the status of the CBA -- he's simply telling them that at present there is no deal.

Oh yeah, there is no deal currently because the OWNERS can't agree with each other on revenue sharing. If you blame the player's union you are far far off base

Don't be silly or make the assumption that I am - this is not just a message to the agents and you know that - read the article!!!

 

[DBoys]

I believe him and we can kiss free agency goodbye

 

[AbeBeta]

Don't be silly or make the assumption that I am - this is not just a message to the agents and you know that - read the article!!!

Do you have a point -- or are you just pushing a baseless anti-union stance?

 

[aikemirv]

Do you have a point -- or are you just pushing a baseless anti-union stance?

Boy, I did not know that I had an anti union stance.

You are a pretty funny guy.

If you read my post the statement that he will not push back FA is not in the best interest of the players as I stated above, so I am not against the players union at all. I do not care for Upshaw period because he is a grandstander.

The reason I wrote that it was a scare tatic was because of his uncapped year in 2007 and no CBA in 2008 statement because he knows that the league cannot make it without a CBA - that will just not happen.

 

[InmanRoshi]

If March 3rd were 2 or 3 months away, I would agree that its a negotiating tactic. When its 7 days away, I think its reality.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

David, that's the thing....everybody is making money. The owners are arguing about those folks that happen to make more money than the rest.

No, there arguing about sharing money realized by efforts subsidised by individual owners efforts. Any owner has the ability to improve there team through personal investment. The fact that some do and realize proffits from that, while others do nothing and don't, should not be shared IMO.

 

[DBoys]

If March 3rd were 2 or 3 months away, I would agree that its a negotiating tactic. When its 7 days away, I think its reality.

Totally agree if they a haven't agreed by now it will never happen.

 

[aikemirv]

Totally agree if they a haven't agreed by now it will never happen.

If you were an owner and you had 2 options - sign and compete for players while everyone has a cap limit of 92-95 million or sign and compete for players when everyone has a 110-115 million limit - what would you do.

I am missing something - because please tell me if I am - why would the owners want a deal before FA begins?

Other than the obvious guys like Snyder who will be in cap hell.

 

[ravidubey]

Let's see, you're Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones and hold all the cards. The NFL and the players want you to give up money. Why would you do it for nothing in return? The way I see it, if you're going to give up money, then at least get a better team in return. There are two big sticks the NFL PA has: uncapped free agency and decertification.

If you are the wealthiest NFL teams, uncapped free agency is not a stick-- it's a dream come true! It means you'll be among an elite group of teams competing for Superbowls every year while the Bengals and Cardinals of the world remain content to go along for the ride.

The marketing deals the Cowboys, Seahawks, et al enjoy would be even more fruitful with a consistent winner on the field. If anything, uncapped free agency could make the wealthy even wealthier-- it will certainly improve their ability to win games.

The American public won't care-- the millions of fans the NFL tries to attract each year will simply become fans of the competitive teams.

The networks won't care-- with only a few teams to focus on, scheduling MNF and talking up the winners will be easy.

The NFLPA will be both hurt and helped-- desirable free agents will get paid bigtime salaries and the Bengals and Cards will barely field competitive teams because there will no longer be a minimum salary cap.

The big losers are the NFL owners who are stuck in between the haves (Jones, Snyder) and the don't care's (Bidwell, Brown). It's the Rooneys who get shafted since they aren't sharing revenues and have trouble outbidding the Allens or Snyders for better free agents. These teams will become farm teams for the competitive NFL teams. Parity will be lost, and as a result the NFL will lose some fans to baseball, international games, and other sports, but the bottom line is there's only one NFL and fans will still pay top dollar to see it.

If the Rooney's have a lick of sense, they'll accept whatever token revenue-sharing Jones, Snyder and company offer and move on. It's free money to them and ensures they will still be able to compete in the future.