NFL Lockout Thread
NFL Lockout Thread
Deal announced Friday - season to start two weeks later. That is the whisper.
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Tom Kessenich
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- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:00 pm
NFL Lockout Thread
That timetable makes sense, Matt, if the hope is to get the new season underway by July 15 or in that range.
Tom Kessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich
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Greg Ambrosius
- Posts: 36411
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:00 pm
NFL Lockout Thread
What do you think it means that the owners and players aren't involved in the meetings this week? Is that good news or bad news? Are we down to the nitty gritty details now? Is the fact that these meetings in Minneapolisa sign that a deal is close and they need to get this to Judge Susan Nelson for approval or is it just to hold this close to the mediator's location? Very interesting report by NFL.com's Albert Breer:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... _headlines
As promised, the NFL and players have returned for a fifth week of clandestine labor talks. But this time, the negotiations are taking on a decidedly different look.
There will be two firsts in this round of talks. Owners and players aren’t expected to participate directly in the meetings in Minnesota, though they will remain well apprised of any developments. And this face-to-face session is slated to last four days, starting on Tuesday.
The longest previous session had been the first one, held May 31 through June 2 near a private airport in suburban Chicago. Subsequent meetings on New York's Long Island, Maryland's Eastern Shore and Massachusetts' South Shore each lasted two days.
The changing time frame surrounding this set of talks and the shifting cast of characters -- the first "secret" meetings only included Goodell, Smith, players, owners and U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan -- are seen as part of the process of negotiating a new agreement to end a lockout that's in its fourth month.
Boylan ran three two-day sets of court-ordered mediation between the owners and players in April and May, and he has been present for all of the more recent meetings. His chambers are located in Minneapolis.
Smith arrived in Minnesota and met with members of his negotiating team, including outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler and James Quinn, and a group of involved players to prep for the talks.
A decision from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the league appealed a district court's issuance of a lockout-lifting injunction, could come soon, too. The time frame on such decisions from an appeals court generally is 30 to 45 days, and the hearing was held June 3. Howver, the league and players have expressed a desire to work toward an agreement before the three-judge panel's ruling is announced.
The St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears, who are scheduled to play in the preseason-opening Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 7, are set to open training camp just three weeks from Friday, and time is beginning to run short on the parties' negotiating teams as they look to preserve the preseason in its traditional form. Some have suggested July 15 as the deadline for that to happen.
The parties have spent the past four weeks largely discussing the revenue split, an issue that dwarfs all others. It's not just the revenue now, but also how to account for the players' take in the league's future growth, particularly when the next round of television deals are negotiated for 2014 and beyond. The idea of an "all revenue" model, which would eliminate cost credits to the owners and limit revenue projections, has bridged some differences, but the issue still hasn't been settled.
The parties broached the rookie pay system for the first time during clandestine sessions Thursday, and it also proved to be a difficult area to navigate. Last year's No. 1 overall draft pick, Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, received about $50 million guaranteed in his rookie deal, and the owners have long looked to drastically mark down price tags like this.
The numbers aren't the only issue. Finding a way to replace the market effect those contracts have on veterans and getting those high picks to free agency quicker are among the players' concerns. Currently, six-year contracts are allowed for the high first-round picks making big money.
Last week, one team executive told NFL Network that owners and players were within "striking distance" of a deal, but that nothing was close or imminent. But another involved executive said: "There are enough legitimate issues to where it could all fall down still. They're dealing with that stuff."
After last week's meeting at a beachside resort in Hull, Mass., Goodell and Smith emerged together and provided a symbolic moment in the joined effort toward a resolution.
The Top 100: Players of 2011
The countdown concludes with a two-hour special revealing the top 10 on NFL Network on Sunday, July 3 at 8 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for a reaction show right after.
"Someone asked me if I was optimistic -- I think we're both optimistic when we have the right people in the room," Smith said. "We know we're talking about the right issues, and we're working hard to get it done. It's extremely complicated. It requires a lot of hard work by a lot of people. But we're committed to getting something done. And we're gonna keep working at it."
Said Goodell: "We are under court order, as far as what we can discuss. Obviously we're all working hard, the players and owners were here over the last few days, and De and I were here for the entire meetings also. And it's complicated and it's complex, but we're working hard. We understand the fans' frustration, but I think both of us feel strongly that we're going to continue to work hard on it."
Goodell and Smith have been joined by Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, New York Giants owner John Mara, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, New York Jets fullback Tony Richardson, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth and Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, as well as Boylan, as constants in the room.
NFLPA president Kevin Mawae, who has been in some talks, attended the trade association's rookie seminar in Bradenton, Fla., on Tuesday and said roughly 170 players were participating in the event. Mawae also addressed more than 40 Tampa Bay Buccaneers players who are holding a three day minicamp at the vast IMG Academy campus, where the NFLPA event is being held.
NFL.com senior Steve Wyche contributed to this report.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... _headlines
As promised, the NFL and players have returned for a fifth week of clandestine labor talks. But this time, the negotiations are taking on a decidedly different look.
There will be two firsts in this round of talks. Owners and players aren’t expected to participate directly in the meetings in Minnesota, though they will remain well apprised of any developments. And this face-to-face session is slated to last four days, starting on Tuesday.
The longest previous session had been the first one, held May 31 through June 2 near a private airport in suburban Chicago. Subsequent meetings on New York's Long Island, Maryland's Eastern Shore and Massachusetts' South Shore each lasted two days.
The changing time frame surrounding this set of talks and the shifting cast of characters -- the first "secret" meetings only included Goodell, Smith, players, owners and U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan -- are seen as part of the process of negotiating a new agreement to end a lockout that's in its fourth month.
Boylan ran three two-day sets of court-ordered mediation between the owners and players in April and May, and he has been present for all of the more recent meetings. His chambers are located in Minneapolis.
Smith arrived in Minnesota and met with members of his negotiating team, including outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler and James Quinn, and a group of involved players to prep for the talks.
A decision from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the league appealed a district court's issuance of a lockout-lifting injunction, could come soon, too. The time frame on such decisions from an appeals court generally is 30 to 45 days, and the hearing was held June 3. Howver, the league and players have expressed a desire to work toward an agreement before the three-judge panel's ruling is announced.
The St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears, who are scheduled to play in the preseason-opening Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 7, are set to open training camp just three weeks from Friday, and time is beginning to run short on the parties' negotiating teams as they look to preserve the preseason in its traditional form. Some have suggested July 15 as the deadline for that to happen.
The parties have spent the past four weeks largely discussing the revenue split, an issue that dwarfs all others. It's not just the revenue now, but also how to account for the players' take in the league's future growth, particularly when the next round of television deals are negotiated for 2014 and beyond. The idea of an "all revenue" model, which would eliminate cost credits to the owners and limit revenue projections, has bridged some differences, but the issue still hasn't been settled.
The parties broached the rookie pay system for the first time during clandestine sessions Thursday, and it also proved to be a difficult area to navigate. Last year's No. 1 overall draft pick, Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, received about $50 million guaranteed in his rookie deal, and the owners have long looked to drastically mark down price tags like this.
The numbers aren't the only issue. Finding a way to replace the market effect those contracts have on veterans and getting those high picks to free agency quicker are among the players' concerns. Currently, six-year contracts are allowed for the high first-round picks making big money.
Last week, one team executive told NFL Network that owners and players were within "striking distance" of a deal, but that nothing was close or imminent. But another involved executive said: "There are enough legitimate issues to where it could all fall down still. They're dealing with that stuff."
After last week's meeting at a beachside resort in Hull, Mass., Goodell and Smith emerged together and provided a symbolic moment in the joined effort toward a resolution.
The Top 100: Players of 2011
The countdown concludes with a two-hour special revealing the top 10 on NFL Network on Sunday, July 3 at 8 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for a reaction show right after.
"Someone asked me if I was optimistic -- I think we're both optimistic when we have the right people in the room," Smith said. "We know we're talking about the right issues, and we're working hard to get it done. It's extremely complicated. It requires a lot of hard work by a lot of people. But we're committed to getting something done. And we're gonna keep working at it."
Said Goodell: "We are under court order, as far as what we can discuss. Obviously we're all working hard, the players and owners were here over the last few days, and De and I were here for the entire meetings also. And it's complicated and it's complex, but we're working hard. We understand the fans' frustration, but I think both of us feel strongly that we're going to continue to work hard on it."
Goodell and Smith have been joined by Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, New York Giants owner John Mara, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, New York Jets fullback Tony Richardson, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth and Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, as well as Boylan, as constants in the room.
NFLPA president Kevin Mawae, who has been in some talks, attended the trade association's rookie seminar in Bradenton, Fla., on Tuesday and said roughly 170 players were participating in the event. Mawae also addressed more than 40 Tampa Bay Buccaneers players who are holding a three day minicamp at the vast IMG Academy campus, where the NFLPA event is being held.
NFL.com senior Steve Wyche contributed to this report.
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
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Greg Ambrosius
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NFL Lockout Thread
I hope this is a good sign. It's at least a trusting sign, right?
From Peter King: "Roger Goodell and De Smith are on a flight together right now, en route to Fla. where Goodell will speak at NFLPA event."
Thoughts?
From Peter King: "Roger Goodell and De Smith are on a flight together right now, en route to Fla. where Goodell will speak at NFLPA event."
Thoughts?
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
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Greg Ambrosius
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NFL Lockout Thread
Here's more:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/f ... index.html
It's not exactly the Hatfields making peace with the McCoys, but in the contentious world of National Football League labor negotiations, what's happening right now is a pretty significant step.
DeMaurice Smith, the National Football League Players Association executive director, asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to speak at the NFLPA rookie symposium, and Goodell agreed.
The commissioner's appearance is scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Sarasota, Fla. The symposium, titled The Business of Football: Rookie Edition, is being held at the IMG Academy in nearby Bradenton, Fla.
Goodell and Smith, in Minneapolis on Tuesday for the first of four days of labor meetings, left the Twin Cities on the same flight Tuesday night. The plan is for Goodell to speak at the symposium around 8 a.m. Wednesday, then Smith and Goodell immediately will fly back to Minneapolis and reconvene meetings with Judge Arthur J. Boylan after lunchtime.
What's significant is that it represents a continuing thaw in the relationship between Smith and Goodell; they'd had some contentious moments over the previous year -- particularly when the NFLPA walked away from negotiations in March, dissatisfied at what it considered the NFL's slow pace in the negotiations -- and each having trust issues with the other.
The NFL canceled its annual rookie symposium on May 24 because of the current lockout, and the NFLPA quickly moved to run the symposium for the first time ever. Some in the NFL saw that as a blatant publicity-grab by the players association, designed to make the league look bad for canceling such a valuable orientation tool for rookies. But with Goodell now to be one of the event's keynote speakers, it's a sign the two sides are building a bridge toward a new collective bargaining agreement. There's very little chance Smith would have asked Goodell to attend an NFLPA-run event if the two sides weren't making significant progress toward a new labor deal.
None of this should mask the fact that the two sides still have significant progress to make after multiple meetings in different parts of the country. One player representative told SI.com recently that he'd been told by the union that a deal is not imminent. But the signs continue to be good with meaningful dialogue and concessions from both sides apparently happening.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/f ... index.html
It's not exactly the Hatfields making peace with the McCoys, but in the contentious world of National Football League labor negotiations, what's happening right now is a pretty significant step.
DeMaurice Smith, the National Football League Players Association executive director, asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to speak at the NFLPA rookie symposium, and Goodell agreed.
The commissioner's appearance is scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Sarasota, Fla. The symposium, titled The Business of Football: Rookie Edition, is being held at the IMG Academy in nearby Bradenton, Fla.
Goodell and Smith, in Minneapolis on Tuesday for the first of four days of labor meetings, left the Twin Cities on the same flight Tuesday night. The plan is for Goodell to speak at the symposium around 8 a.m. Wednesday, then Smith and Goodell immediately will fly back to Minneapolis and reconvene meetings with Judge Arthur J. Boylan after lunchtime.
What's significant is that it represents a continuing thaw in the relationship between Smith and Goodell; they'd had some contentious moments over the previous year -- particularly when the NFLPA walked away from negotiations in March, dissatisfied at what it considered the NFL's slow pace in the negotiations -- and each having trust issues with the other.
The NFL canceled its annual rookie symposium on May 24 because of the current lockout, and the NFLPA quickly moved to run the symposium for the first time ever. Some in the NFL saw that as a blatant publicity-grab by the players association, designed to make the league look bad for canceling such a valuable orientation tool for rookies. But with Goodell now to be one of the event's keynote speakers, it's a sign the two sides are building a bridge toward a new collective bargaining agreement. There's very little chance Smith would have asked Goodell to attend an NFLPA-run event if the two sides weren't making significant progress toward a new labor deal.
None of this should mask the fact that the two sides still have significant progress to make after multiple meetings in different parts of the country. One player representative told SI.com recently that he'd been told by the union that a deal is not imminent. But the signs continue to be good with meaningful dialogue and concessions from both sides apparently happening.
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
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Greg Ambrosius
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NFL Lockout Thread
If you want positive news about the lockout, read Mike Florio's legal interpretation of the latest proceedings here:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -the-deal/
Now that I’ve had a chance to get the rest of the IV sedative out of my system and otherwise recover from Tuesday’s necessary evil (which wasn’t nearly as evil as I thought it would be), I’m ready to articulate my interpretation of the latest round of labor talks.
For starters, four days of negotiations are twice as good as two, and the willingness to double down indicates the kind of commitment needed to get a deal done.
The fact that the owners and players aren’t present strongly suggests that the process has moved from concepts to concrete, with the lawyers taking all the things on which the parties agree and creating the guts of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. At one point in the past few weeks, there was a report that the process was 80-to-85 percent complete. The reality is that 85 percent or more of the expired CBA wasn’t in dispute in the first place. The parties were focused on several big issues and a group of secondary matters, with much of the arrangement between them not in question.
Streamlining the process of documenting the matters on which they agree and ironing out the remaining areas of disagreement gives the parties a chance to present to the federal court in Minnesota the paperwork necessary to launch in earnest the process for approving the settlement of the Tom Brady class action as of Tuesday, July 5, the first business day after the Fourth of July weekend. The fact that the talks are being held in Minnesota could be, in this regard, much more than coincidental or symbolic. If they get the paperwork completed, they’ll be in position to file it quickly. If they have questions about the format of the filings necessary to get things moving quickly for court approval, they can communicate directly with Judge Susan Nelson and/or her staff.
The decision of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA* executive director DeMaurice Smith to fly to Florida on Tuesday and return on Wednesday so that Goodell can speak at — and thus fully legitimize — the NFLPA* rookie symposium has much more meaning than we (I) first thought. If this thing wasn’t close to being done, there’s no way this happens. And if there was any reason to think a roadblock to resolution could happen, at a minimum the two men would have traveled separately.
I’m not just saying all of this because it meshes, sort of, with my prediction of an agreement in principle by Thursday, June 30. Albert Breer of NFL Network says that “[t]he parties’ legal teams are expected to trade proposals on the framework of a settlement, in an effort to move the process toward conclusion, and they will intensify their focus on the key issues, most notably the revenue split.” Also, deeply buried in Jason Cole’s report on the Carl Eller class action was this potential treasure trove: “A source very familiar with the circumstances indicated that the lawyers were working on paperwork toward a possible settlement.”
We’ve suspected for two weeks that the process is much closer to completion than the parties are letting on, but that both sides wanted to avoid creating a sense that an agreement was inevitable, in order to allow the issues to be resolved without the weight of media and fan expectations — and without one side feeling compelled to give in if the other side decided to take a hard line as to any lingering issues.
As we’ve said before, it would be brilliant for the parties to announce that the situation has been resolved before the upcoming three-day weekend. Though that may not mean the announcement of a handshake deal on Thursday, it could mean the announcement of a dotted-i’s and crossed-t’s legal document being filed in court on Friday.
That would be even better. Since it would mean that a handshake deal already was in place, and that the parties agreed it was in their mutual interests to keep it quiet until the paperwork was complete.
Thoughts?
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -the-deal/
Now that I’ve had a chance to get the rest of the IV sedative out of my system and otherwise recover from Tuesday’s necessary evil (which wasn’t nearly as evil as I thought it would be), I’m ready to articulate my interpretation of the latest round of labor talks.
For starters, four days of negotiations are twice as good as two, and the willingness to double down indicates the kind of commitment needed to get a deal done.
The fact that the owners and players aren’t present strongly suggests that the process has moved from concepts to concrete, with the lawyers taking all the things on which the parties agree and creating the guts of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. At one point in the past few weeks, there was a report that the process was 80-to-85 percent complete. The reality is that 85 percent or more of the expired CBA wasn’t in dispute in the first place. The parties were focused on several big issues and a group of secondary matters, with much of the arrangement between them not in question.
Streamlining the process of documenting the matters on which they agree and ironing out the remaining areas of disagreement gives the parties a chance to present to the federal court in Minnesota the paperwork necessary to launch in earnest the process for approving the settlement of the Tom Brady class action as of Tuesday, July 5, the first business day after the Fourth of July weekend. The fact that the talks are being held in Minnesota could be, in this regard, much more than coincidental or symbolic. If they get the paperwork completed, they’ll be in position to file it quickly. If they have questions about the format of the filings necessary to get things moving quickly for court approval, they can communicate directly with Judge Susan Nelson and/or her staff.
The decision of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA* executive director DeMaurice Smith to fly to Florida on Tuesday and return on Wednesday so that Goodell can speak at — and thus fully legitimize — the NFLPA* rookie symposium has much more meaning than we (I) first thought. If this thing wasn’t close to being done, there’s no way this happens. And if there was any reason to think a roadblock to resolution could happen, at a minimum the two men would have traveled separately.
I’m not just saying all of this because it meshes, sort of, with my prediction of an agreement in principle by Thursday, June 30. Albert Breer of NFL Network says that “[t]he parties’ legal teams are expected to trade proposals on the framework of a settlement, in an effort to move the process toward conclusion, and they will intensify their focus on the key issues, most notably the revenue split.” Also, deeply buried in Jason Cole’s report on the Carl Eller class action was this potential treasure trove: “A source very familiar with the circumstances indicated that the lawyers were working on paperwork toward a possible settlement.”
We’ve suspected for two weeks that the process is much closer to completion than the parties are letting on, but that both sides wanted to avoid creating a sense that an agreement was inevitable, in order to allow the issues to be resolved without the weight of media and fan expectations — and without one side feeling compelled to give in if the other side decided to take a hard line as to any lingering issues.
As we’ve said before, it would be brilliant for the parties to announce that the situation has been resolved before the upcoming three-day weekend. Though that may not mean the announcement of a handshake deal on Thursday, it could mean the announcement of a dotted-i’s and crossed-t’s legal document being filed in court on Friday.
That would be even better. Since it would mean that a handshake deal already was in place, and that the parties agreed it was in their mutual interests to keep it quiet until the paperwork was complete.
Thoughts?
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
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Tom Kessenich
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NFL Lockout Thread
About time.
Tom Kessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich
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Greg Ambrosius
- Posts: 36411
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:00 pm
NFL Lockout Thread
Kudos to ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio for really being on top of these latest negotiations and taking a solid stand on them. Here's his latest piece, which says we're at a critical stage with the owners possibly still going for the knockout punch:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... deal-done/
We painted earlier today a fairly rosy picture of the current status of the labor negotiations, based on the four straight days of talks with no players or owners present — and the decision of the two key figures in the labor dispute to behave like old friends, not mortal enemies, via their trip to Florida for Roger Goodell’s appearance at the seminar for the rookies organized by DeMaurice Smith.
Since then, we’ve learned from a source with knowledge of the dynamics on both sides of the table that the process remains, relatively speaking, far from over. And the blame for the delay is being placed on the owners.
Per the source, a deal could have been done a week or two ago, but the owners have been playing games with some of the numbers, possibly relying upon the emergence and strengthening sense that the players are ready to get a deal done in order to squeeze the players on some of the smaller issues.
So what’s going on this week, featuring four days of talks without owners and players? It could be that Goodell and Smith have opted to take full charge of the process in the hopes of ironing out all of the things on which the parties agree, and then to generate a list of the things on which they still disagree. Then, the owners and players can return next week and knock out the remaining list of issues to be resolved, with Goodell and Smith pushing hard for their respective constituents to be fair.
If that’s the case, those issues need to be identified worked out by the end of next week, in order to then allow the various approvals to be obtained in time to have meaningful free agency before the first of the training camps open. Even then, a one-week lag between striking a deal and obtaining approval from the court in Minnesota would leave the Bears and Rams roughly a week to sign their rookies and free agents before opening camp in advance of the Hall of Fame game.
Though we’ve got no problem with the two sides trying to get a good deal, we’re hoping that the sense of trust and friendship that has emerged between Goodell and Smith will infect the entire process, and that the owners won’t take advantage of the perception of inevitability in order to take advantage of the players as to various details that could derail a deal.
That responsibility on the owners ultimately lands on the lap of Goodell, who now must show true leadership in persuading the folks to whom he answers to not push so hard on the minor issues to possibly prevent a deal from being finalized.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... deal-done/
We painted earlier today a fairly rosy picture of the current status of the labor negotiations, based on the four straight days of talks with no players or owners present — and the decision of the two key figures in the labor dispute to behave like old friends, not mortal enemies, via their trip to Florida for Roger Goodell’s appearance at the seminar for the rookies organized by DeMaurice Smith.
Since then, we’ve learned from a source with knowledge of the dynamics on both sides of the table that the process remains, relatively speaking, far from over. And the blame for the delay is being placed on the owners.
Per the source, a deal could have been done a week or two ago, but the owners have been playing games with some of the numbers, possibly relying upon the emergence and strengthening sense that the players are ready to get a deal done in order to squeeze the players on some of the smaller issues.
So what’s going on this week, featuring four days of talks without owners and players? It could be that Goodell and Smith have opted to take full charge of the process in the hopes of ironing out all of the things on which the parties agree, and then to generate a list of the things on which they still disagree. Then, the owners and players can return next week and knock out the remaining list of issues to be resolved, with Goodell and Smith pushing hard for their respective constituents to be fair.
If that’s the case, those issues need to be identified worked out by the end of next week, in order to then allow the various approvals to be obtained in time to have meaningful free agency before the first of the training camps open. Even then, a one-week lag between striking a deal and obtaining approval from the court in Minnesota would leave the Bears and Rams roughly a week to sign their rookies and free agents before opening camp in advance of the Hall of Fame game.
Though we’ve got no problem with the two sides trying to get a good deal, we’re hoping that the sense of trust and friendship that has emerged between Goodell and Smith will infect the entire process, and that the owners won’t take advantage of the perception of inevitability in order to take advantage of the players as to various details that could derail a deal.
That responsibility on the owners ultimately lands on the lap of Goodell, who now must show true leadership in persuading the folks to whom he answers to not push so hard on the minor issues to possibly prevent a deal from being finalized.
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
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Tom Kessenich
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NFL Lockout Thread
Wish I could say I was surprised to hear the owners are the ones stalling the process but I'm not. This has been their party the entire time and it seems like they don't want to tell everyone to go home just yet.
Tom Kessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich
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Greg Ambrosius
- Posts: 36411
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 6:00 pm
NFL Lockout Thread
Here's the latest from Goodell and Smith appearing together at the Rookie Symposium:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... _headlines
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Standing side by side in a posture that resembled a unified front, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said Wednesday they will continue working on getting a labor pact settled in the near future.
"It's about getting a fair deal done and getting back to football as soon as possible," Smith said in a joint statement to the media in which the duo took no questions.
"This event was important to ensure our young men appreciated how important we think these few days are."
Goodell added, "I would just say that it was a great opportunity for us to be able to sit with the rookies. They obviously had lots of questions. We answered the questions as best we could, but you all know that we're under restrictions.
"We took a break because we felt it was important to be down here with the players. We both have great respect for the players and this is an important few days… And we're going to get back to work."
Smith and Goodell will head back to Minneapolis on the same plane today to resume discussions. They broke from those talks Tuesday evening to travel to Florida to jointly address 155 rookies at NFLPA's rookie symposium.
After sharing breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where the rookie meetings are being held, the leaders of their respective parties spoke to and took questions from rookies in an hour-long session.
NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said the questions were "poignant" and that Goodell and Smith answered them the best they could in light of a confidentiality order regarding the labor negotiations.
One of the rookies present, Baltimore Ravens Torrey Smith, wrote on his official Twitter account, "We grilled them haha they answered the questions in a political manner."
Goodell was invited to the symposium by Smith, with Smith saying that he was "thrilled" Goodell accepted and took part.
Atallah said the main purpose of the joint session was so the rookies could see a positive working relationship between the league and its players.
The outwardly friendly relationship between Goodell and Smith continues to show that the ice has thawed between the sides and that progress, as several league and players association members said, is being made.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... _headlines
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Standing side by side in a posture that resembled a unified front, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said Wednesday they will continue working on getting a labor pact settled in the near future.
"It's about getting a fair deal done and getting back to football as soon as possible," Smith said in a joint statement to the media in which the duo took no questions.
"This event was important to ensure our young men appreciated how important we think these few days are."
Goodell added, "I would just say that it was a great opportunity for us to be able to sit with the rookies. They obviously had lots of questions. We answered the questions as best we could, but you all know that we're under restrictions.
"We took a break because we felt it was important to be down here with the players. We both have great respect for the players and this is an important few days… And we're going to get back to work."
Smith and Goodell will head back to Minneapolis on the same plane today to resume discussions. They broke from those talks Tuesday evening to travel to Florida to jointly address 155 rookies at NFLPA's rookie symposium.
After sharing breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where the rookie meetings are being held, the leaders of their respective parties spoke to and took questions from rookies in an hour-long session.
NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said the questions were "poignant" and that Goodell and Smith answered them the best they could in light of a confidentiality order regarding the labor negotiations.
One of the rookies present, Baltimore Ravens Torrey Smith, wrote on his official Twitter account, "We grilled them haha they answered the questions in a political manner."
Goodell was invited to the symposium by Smith, with Smith saying that he was "thrilled" Goodell accepted and took part.
Atallah said the main purpose of the joint session was so the rookies could see a positive working relationship between the league and its players.
The outwardly friendly relationship between Goodell and Smith continues to show that the ice has thawed between the sides and that progress, as several league and players association members said, is being made.
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius