New CBA By July 21st, Says Report/UPDATE from Players :July 21st Isn't the Date After All

[bayone]

Both Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN are reporting that sources are saying the NFL and NFL Players Association will have an agreement in place that can be ratified during the July 21 league meetings in Atlanta. John Clayton, also of ESPN, believes July 22nd is the day the CBA will be agreed upon.

Undrafted rookies could be signed July 25th. After that, free agents could re-sign.

League year and full free agency would start July 28th.

Rosters would be set at 90 by August 2nd, and the deadline for restricted free agent offer sheets would be August 3rd. The match period would run through the 7th.

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( so does that mean addai etc are restricted again ?? ?)

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Drafted rookies signing begin August 12th.

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Only sticking Point

rookie wage scale. Owners want drafted rookies, especially first round picks, to be signed for more years.

My link

[GoDeep]

OMG that would be sooooo awesome. I am getting tired of waiting!

[IndyJayman]

I wonder how bad this whole thing will effect the season. God only knows how far behind teams are in their preparation to play at 100%.

[Coltswarriors]

Come on...

[21isSuperman]

I've stopped caring about all this speculation. Everytime I hear something like "the players and owners met today for 5 hours..." it's just in one ear and out the other. I just want to see results.

I've heard the new CBA will be nearly identical to the old one with a few small changes (like the rookie wage scale). If so, that would be an awful lot of talking and angering of fans for pathetic results.

[shakedownstreet]

I've stopped caring about all this speculation. Everytime I hear something like "the players and owners met today for 5 hours..." it's just in one ear and out the other. I just want to see results.

I've heard the new CBA will be nearly identical to the old one with a few small changes (like the rookie wage scale). If so, that would be an awful lot of talking and angering of fans for pathetic results.

a rookie pay scale would be a major win for the owners and the integrity of the game. lets just hope they don't give up too much in free agency restrictions to counteract any progress

[bayone]

from the player's side who is talking to CBS Sports writer Pete Prisco, the July 21st deadline is one being pushed by the owners so that the players will 'cave' on the supposedly last and final issue in these negotiations: The rookie wage scale.

"That's not true," the player said. "All that is hype coming from the owners side to try and put pressure on us to do a deal. They want to make us look bad. It's simply not true. There is a lot of work to be done. They are not close."

Amid reports that a deal could be done by July 21, the player said that is far from the information he is getting from his representatives.

"Consider where that information is coming from, it's the owners," the player said. "Their reason is to try and create all this false hope to put more pressure on us."

Again, we've seen deadlines like the July 21st one before

As the sources told Prisco, the time has come from Roger Goodell to 'drop his nuts' and get these owners to compromise on this rookie wage scale issue. Pressuring the players into agreeing to it could cost the NFL hundreds of millions by putting pre season in jeopardy

My link

[GoDeep]

from the player's side who is talking to CBS Sports writer Pete Prisco, the July 21st deadline is one being pushed by the owners so that the players will 'cave' on the supposedly last and final issue in these negotiations: The rookie wage scale.

"That's not true," the player said. "All that is hype coming from the owners side to try and put pressure on us to do a deal. They want to make us look bad. It's simply not true. There is a lot of work to be done. They are not close."

Amid reports that a deal could be done by July 21, the player said that is far from the information he is getting from his representatives.

"Consider where that information is coming from, it's the owners," the player said. "Their reason is to try and create all this false hope to put more pressure on us."

Again, we've seen deadlines like the July 21st one before

As the sources told Prisco, the time has come from Roger Goodell to 'drop his nuts' and get these owners to compromise on this rookie wage scale issue. Pressuring the players into agreeing to it could cost the NFL hundreds of millions by putting pre season in jeopardy

My link

[shakedownstreet]

i imagine the lawyers are writing the scripts for these unnamed sources

[Nadine]

how does the unnamed player know who the unnamed sources are?

sheesh

[Coltssouth]

I know but I'm not telling.

I have my sources.

[Thewholefnshow28]

It is hard for me not to agree with the owners on this one. A rookie wage scale needs to be added and the owners should not compromise on it. What these top 10 picks are getting is just flat out ridiculous and it will just continue to get worse. Guys like Polian Newsome, and BB are thought to be the best in the business and they still swing and miss on guys.

Missing on one guy should not cripple your team for three to four years.

[Peyton and Eli fan]

It is hard for me not to agree with the owners on this one. A rookie wage scale needs to be added and the owners should not compromise on it. What these top 10 picks are getting is just flat out ridiculous and it will just continue to get worse. Guys like Polian Newsome, and BB are thought to be the best in the business and they still swing and miss on guys.

Missing on one guy should not cripple your team for three to four years.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the sticking point is what happens after their rookie season. I think the players are on board for a rookie wage scale, but there's something about the length of the rookie contract and what happens in their 5th year that's the sticking point.

[John Waylon]

Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it.

And even I'll be skeptical from that point on.

Both sides drug their feet and now they're about to start missing games because of it. Really no reason to pat either side on the back for a job well done from this point on.

[Rich Cannon]

THIS IS A D@MN SHAME

[bayone]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the sticking point is what happens after their rookie season. I think the players are on board for a rookie wage scale, but there's something about the length of the rookie contract and what happens in their 5th year that's the sticking point.

One report earlier, the 1 saying the 21st could be the day for the agreement,,said the owners want a longer term contract for the rookies

[Superman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the sticking point is what happens after their rookie season. I think the players are on board for a rookie wage scale, but there's something about the length of the rookie contract and what happens in their 5th year that's the sticking point.

Yes, that's it. It's not about having a rookie wage scale, it's about making sure that doesn't turn into a veteran wage scale, because after four years, they aren't rookies anymore. Either way, I think that, considering all the other progress that's reportedly been made, even on the rookie pay issue, this is a minor thing that just needs to be compromised by both parties. Can't imagine that relatively tiny issue undoing everything else that's been supposedly agreed to.

Everything that's been going on, all the reports and public sniping, is just posturing. None of it means anything, really. I think there will be an agreement before the July 19 meeting with Judge Boylan, and I think it will be ratified on July 21.

[Superman]

Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it.

And even I'll be skeptical from that point on.

Both sides drug their feet and now they're about to start missing games because of it. Really no reason to pat either side on the back for a job well done from this point on.

What games have been missed? If they get a deal done, and there's no major ramifications, then I think people need to start getting over themselves and this acrimony they have over the labor issue. Yeah, it sucks, and it's annoying, and it's taking too long, and all the legal crap was a pain, but... you haven't missed any football yet. The only thing that's happened is some OTAs and rookie camps haven't happened, and free agency is delayed (all people do during free agency is complain about how much money players make anyways). Labor issues suck, especially when they affect the sport you enjoy watching, but this happens every so often. Hopefully it's done in short order, and there's no long-standing ramifications. If so, that's good work.

[GoDeep]

(all people do during free agency is complain about how much money players make anyways)

Not true - a new thread is created for every player that is a free agent, saying he should be signed. Then there is the obligatory "vet minimum" post.

[John Waylon]

Forget it.

[Coltssouth]

Forget it.

I can relate.

Thanks for the chuckle.

[Andy]

Just saw a report on the CBA agreement talks, and they say that both sides agreed quickly on a rookie salary or something like that. Things are moving along quickly. Why are they moving quickly only now... only 120 days later. What do you guys think?

[bayone]

sounds great, that's what we've been hearing as the sticking point, but not the salary per se , the length of the initial contract, Owners want to go from 4 to 5 year contracts, that was the contentious issue, if that's what u heard was cleared up great, the initial salary alone was supposedly already cleared up though

[Nadine]

I don't know what to think. For the past 3 weeks it's been nothing but unnamed sources.

for some reason, this a.m. the building pressure to get things signed is reminding me of a song from Little Shop of Horrors

They say the meek shall inherit

You know the book doesn't lie

It's not a question of merit

It's not demand and supply

You'll make a fortune, we swear it

if on this fact you rely

You know the meek are gonna get

What's comin' to 'em

By and by

[Thewholefnshow28]

Just saw a report on the CBA agreement talks, and they say that both sides agreed quickly on a rookie salary or something like that. Things are moving along quickly. Why are they moving quickly only now... only 120 days later. What do you guys think?

I think it is pretty simple why they are moving along quickly now. If the owners start missing preseason games they start losing money. When the pocketbooks start taking a real hit things get done. Anyone who thought the CBA would be done quickly was just fooling themselves.

A deal will be done at some point next week and things will start be kicked into high gear to get things rolling. We might lose the HOF game, but who really cares about that one.

[bayone]

Andy , heres the updates, I also added second article in comments by me

My link

[GoPats]

I think it is pretty simple why they are moving along quickly now. If the owners start missing preseason games they start losing money. When the pocketbooks start taking a real hit things get done. Anyone who thought the CBA would be done quickly was just fooling themselves.

A deal will be done at some point next week and things will start be kicked into high gear to get things rolling. We might lose the HOF game, but who really cares about that one.

Yup. The rapidly approaching preseason games, which still generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, are the driving force behind things at this point. Until now it's been a war of attrition... hold your ground and see if you can make the other side flinch... but now that the threat of revenue loss is real, progress is being made.

[jskinnz]

Just saw a report on the CBA agreement talks, and they say that both sides agreed quickly on a rookie salary or something like that. Things are moving along quickly. Why are they moving quickly only now... only 120 days later. What do you guys think?

Not too hard to figure why things are picking up.

$$

Earlier this summer the possibility of losing money on both sides was not there. In mid to late July that possibility is becoming very real.

[indy_nick]

Remember this was also the original deadline for them to get stuff done before losing pre-season games. Now I think it is the 21st or something like that, but they had to have had a tentative plan as to how to finish the labor talks by now. It looks like they are wrapping things up finally. Thank goodness!

[-JJ-]

imo there's was never any doubt there wouldn't be NFL this season.

As some said above...its $$ and run it down to the wire. Typical of most negotiations.

The wire is fast approaching (July 19th I think) and they will get it done...as has been the plan all along..one way or another.

[ruksak]

I posted extensively about my feelings that this lockout was a show. Too much money to be lost for them to actually miss a season. The inherent irony being; Greed caused the lockout and greed will end the lockout. At least there is one thing we can count on in the realm of NFL football .....greed.

Oh....and HI everyone. I finally decided to show up here. The debacle surrounding our last move had me thinking I wouldn't be corresponding with any of you any more. It is truly great to see you all again!!

[shakedownstreet]

it's not only potential lost revenue from unplayed games. if games are missed, then fans will be lost permanently. that would cost a lot more money in the long run

i think most fans will forget all about his off-season as long as football resumes on schedule

[ruksak]

it's not only potential lost revenue from unplayed games. if games are missed, then fans will be lost permanently. that would cost a lot more money in the long run

i think most fans will forget all about his off-season as long as football resumes on schedule

Both sides knew how far they could push it, to what date they could stand their ground. Both sides knew concessions would only be made as this date closed in. I feel as though all the protests from fans only fueled the leagues assurances that the fans would remain, wallets open in their hand. Silence would have been the best weapon for the fans, but all too many couldn't shut it up. Hollow threats from overtly eager fans. Our way of life was never threatened, only our entertainment stood in threat. It was they, the league and the players, who's way of life would have been impacted by a failed season.

Though they weren't playing football, they were in fact playing games.