NFL players around the league are publicly voicing their opinions on the new collective bargaining agreement proposal.
The new CBA proposal has already been approved by the league's owners, and now needs agreement from the other side of the negotiating table: the players themselves.
Early Wednesday morning, the NFLPA announced its board of player representatives had voted to send the proposed agreement to the full player membership for a final vote. That requires just a simple majority for approval, which, if given, would ensure labor peace for the next decade and no potential labor stoppage when the current CBA expires after the 2020 season. A time for that vote hasn't been announced.
Until it is, the players are left to express their opinions online, where they may resort to squabbling or, in some cases, engaging in healthy discussions about some very important topics that not every player will agree upon.
For instance, a player who's already made a ton of money may not see eye to eye with someone making league minimum, who's not assured another paycheck week to week. By taking these discussions public, as Nick Sundberg and Robert Griffin III – Redskins teammates from 2012 to 2015 – did Wednesday evening, it exposes fans to the human element of these intense negotiations that can too easily be lost in the headlines.
What's more, it shows the imperfect nature of the negotiations, that whether a deal is ultimately reached or not, unanimity is an ideal goal but a near impossible task. It also shows the power of the owners, which, as Sundberg points out below, have already threatened the cease negotiations until next February, which would further impede future negotiations for the players by putting them in the crucible of a looming lockout threat.
It’s up to the players now to take a stand and vote no https://t.co/43CCDPgqp6
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 26, 2020You have any questions on why I voted yes, fire away Rob. https://t.co/4uW59EgrsW
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020Are you saying certain players are not going to get paid for the 17th game? Every player in the NFL will get an extra 1/17th pay check on top of their full salary for that year. https://t.co/nGFa5PbeAP
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020A $0 HRA account gets 50k this year to help with medical bills. We’re increasing every pre 2012 player’s pension and giving pre 1993 players who accrued 3 years of service when you needed 4 to get pension, pension. To name a few things.
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020We reduced training camp practice time, capped padded and joint practices, put a limit on consecutive padded days and total day lengths. Every minimum salary player year 9 and under gets a 100k raise this year and every player gets an extra check when we go to 17 games. Went from
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020Rise at the same rate as the cap. There are seriously a ton of really good things to focus on. These are just off the top of my head. Read through everything before you vote.
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020Hold out til when? Do you honestly thing an extra % is worth ripping the deal up? The owners told us if we didn’t get a deal done before now, they wouldn’t negotiate again until February, when we would have to start from scratch. It took us 10 months of negotiating to get here... https://t.co/PcV5HAWerQ
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020That’s a super easy thing to say. “Just get more.” But at what cost? Two years of a strike? We’d lose over 13 billion in player money in that time. Say we get to 50/50 after that. It’ll take 20+ years to recoup those lost funds. And guys careers will end because of that action. https://t.co/p6HFGrrNO3
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020You’ve got 6 XFL teams and probably 6000 collage kids coming out this year and next to fill rosters while we picket. You gonna be on the front lines at the stadium and facility every day fighting this? https://t.co/gvLiRKaRMe
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020You forget that once the TV deals are signed, that’s billions guaranteed to the owners. They won’t lose like we will. It’s that simple. https://t.co/gvLiRKaRMe
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 26, 2020That’s funny bro. We are a part of a union. We have to make hard decisions for the majority of our membership. 65+% are on minimum contracts. Every one of those guys gets paid more, better benefits, and better work conditions. https://t.co/Nrz6TlwIfV
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 27, 2020If we hold out and say no now until we get a better all around deal and protect our health and safety, that 65% you are referencing gets even more pay, more benefits and we all get better working conditions https://t.co/lgtiLRJzkg
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 27, 2020Players cross. We have a war chest to pay every player a little bit, but nothing compared to anyone’s yearly salary. So we wait, picketing and causing as much chaos as we can. Teams get scabs from the XFL and that college class. People go watch games anyways bc history has shown
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 27, 2020But that’s a worst case scenario, which we all have to think about. I’m not coming at this from a place of fear, I’m looking at it from a place called reality. Fans aren’t fans of us, they’re fans of teams. Players come and go, they’ll watch and gamble on anything.
— Nick Sundberg (@NickSundberg) February 27, 2020As you can see, these are real concerns voiced by real people, faced with the gripping burden of negotiating a better future for players past, present and future.
And finding a happy medium won't be easy.
