Ooops...Bump in the Road in Labor Talks

[NKySteeler]

Re: Ooops...Bump in the Road in Labor Talks

"Some dude" is Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller.

Yea... I just couldn't remember his name.... Sue me...

[fordfixer]

Re: Ooops...Bump in the Road in Labor Talks

"Some dude" is Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller.

Yea... I just couldn't remember his name.... Sue me...

They say that the memory is the second thing to go..... (I can't remember what the first thing was)

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Re: Ooops...Bump in the Road in Labor Talks

Snyder and Jones bought the teams they bought. The NFL will survive if Jacksonville and Buffalo have to move or sell to new owners.

Agreed. And the NFL would survive if Snyder and Jones had to sell to new owners or moved to a different league. It's bigger than just one or two teams. And Snyder and Jones should have known that going in.

How long should the league subsidize failing organizations?

None of the teams, including Washington and Dallas, would even be in existence, let alone be the "successful" organizations they are today, had they not benefited from the NFL's revenue sharing system in the past.

I'm 100% sure Jones and Snyder won't be able to buy championship in this day in age. Too much talent across the board to hoard talent wth money. The draft is how you build championship teams and you have to coach up the talent once you get it.

100% sure? Wow. That's a pretty bold statement.

Outspending everyone else may not guarantee you a championship, but it sure could help put you in contention. In contrast, teams that can't spend as much would be at a serious disadvantage. As far as building through the draft and "coaching up the talent once you get it," under the plan you favor, as soon as you start to get the talent coached up, the Snyders and the Joneses of the league would pick them off through FA. Then you would have a situation like that in MLB, where several of the teams serve as nothing more than a developmental farm system for the big spenders.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Ooops...Bump in the Road in Labor Talks

"Some dude" is Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller.

Yea... I just couldn't remember his name.... Sue me...

I won't sue you...but perhaps Carl Eller will. He could use another lawsuit.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Ooops...Bump in the Road in Labor Talks

"Some dude" is Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller.

Yea... I just couldn't remember his name.... Sue me...

They say that the memory is the second thing to go..... (I can't remember what the first thing was)

I was going to respond to your post but forgot what it was we were discussing...

[feltdizz]

Re: Ooops...Bump in the Road in Labor Talks

Hairdresser I don't favor the MLB model just entertaining the thought process of Snyder and Jones. Smaller market teams would be at a disadvantage but I think it would force them to put a netter product on the field.

Snyder and Jones can't buy up all the talent. You can't even compare the NFL to the MLB because the offense in baseball is a one man show. one swimg can change the outcome of the game.

When you look at the Pats and the Redskins you have 2 revenue big wigs... The pats dump big contracts and pick up cheap FA's and win... the Redskins overpay for FA's and lose. Every FA that goes to the Redskins leaves 2 years later becuse it's a nightmare. The Cowboys have it all and can't win... spending more money wouldn't change that IMO.

I think the revenue sharing needs to be tweeked so teams who generate the most get to keep more of their money. The NFL will survive without Jones or Snyder but these guys are subsidizing a lot of teams so it's in the best interest to find a balance.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Ooops...Bump in the Road in Labor Talks

Sources: Talks trending 'backwards'

By Chris Mortensen - ESPN
Updated: June 30, 2011


Optimism is waning after four consecutive days of negotiations between NFL owners and players and was described as trending "backwards," player sources told ESPN.

Player sources said owners have reneged on a simplified formula that would have given players 48 percent of all revenue.

Player sources reaffirmed a setback in talks occurred when owners last week went "retro" on the formula that will divide the estimated $9.3 billion in annual revenue. The players believed the two sides had reached an understanding on a simplified formula in which they would receive 48 percent of revenue, sources say owners reintroduced their previous formula by asking for $400 million to $500 million in expenses as credit off the top.

Players calculate that under the owners' proposal, it would leave them with approximately with a 45 percent take on revenue, an "unacceptable" amount that one player source said "sets us back to March 11 ... before the lockout."

A management source said the owners have not reneged on any revenue split, claiming "it's a negotiation, which is always subject to change"

A league source said the owners were more flexible Thursday afternoon on the revenue-split formula and maintained the theme "negotiations are negotiations."

Player sources contend the owners' terms changed when the two sides convened a day after owners met June 21 in Chicago. A source said the players went into Thursday's negotiating session with owners at the table, hoping to "get them back on track. They wouldn't move. It's disappointing."

Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday spearheaded a conference call Thursday afternoon with player leadership. The call was recessed so players could get back into negotiations.

The two sides ordered in a late dinner and continued to meet Thursday night for more than 13 hours.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith were joined by U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan and a handful of owners -- John Mara of the New York Giants, Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots -- and players including Saturday, Brian Waters of the Chiefs and Domonique Foxworth of the Baltimore Ravens at a Minneapolis law firm for Thursday's talks.

The latest round of negotiations between the two sides -- the fifth since they began hopping from city to city for meetings -- kicked off Tuesday with Goodell, Smith, their attorneys and staffs.

This location is significant because Minneapolis is where the players have filed a still-pending federal antitrust suit against the owners. The two sides met here for six days of court-ordered mediation under Boylan in April and May.

The July 4 holiday weekend has been floated by some of the members of their respective parties as a rough target for a deal, and that time has nearly arrived.

Owners and players are seeking a deal that would divide revenues for the $9 billion business -- the biggest hurdle to clear -- and guide league activities for years to come.

Goodell and Smith took questions from rookies at an orientation in Sarasota, Fla., Wednesday, but they didn't offer specifics.

Smith invited Goodell to the orientation symposium for NFL rookies -- put on by the players' association after the NFL canceled the event -- and the pair flew to Florida on Tuesday night. After a joint breakfast Wednesday, they talked for an hour with 155 rookies before returning to Minnesota.

Smith and Goodell certainly seem closer than when the lockout began March 12 and the hope is that it leads to a new deal soon. Training camps are scheduled to open in three weeks with the Hall of Fame exhibition game on Aug. 7.

Since players don't get their regular paychecks until the regular season and revenue for the league revolves heavily around Sunday games, the financial urgency arguably hasn't arrived.

Rookies need to start learning their playbooks, though, and teams need free agency to arrange their rosters. Plus, a 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel is weighing a decision on the legality of the lockout.

Chris Mortensen is ESPN's senior NFL analyst. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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