CSNbbs

Union to players: Save pay, NFL lockout's coming

Published - Dec 04 2010 12:31PM EST

By JIMMY GOLEN - AP Sports Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The NFL players' union is advising its members to prepare for a lockout it expects to come in March, telling players to save their last three game checks this year in case there is no season in 2011.

In a letter to the players that was seen by The Associated Press, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said the union had an "internal deadline" for agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement.

"That deadline has now passed," he wrote. "It is important that you protect yourself and your family."

The letter was dated Wednesday, and copies were strewn across a table in the New England Patriots locker room during the media availability on Saturday. After a reporter asked players about the letter, a Patriots spokesman flipped the copies face-down.

The one-page letter on NFLPA stationery said the union expects the lockout to come on March 4, and that players should work with their advisers to prepare for an impending lack of income.

It also said the league is planning to cancel the players' health insurance.The union said it is filing a grievance to contest a cancellation of health insurance, citing a section of the collective bargaining agreement that states: "Players will continue to receive the benefits provided in this article through the end of the Plan Year in which they are released or otherwise sever employment."

Patriots offensive lineman Matt Light, one of the team's player representatives, said players understand the nature of the business but the threat to cancel health insurance is different.

"You're going to cancel somebody's health insurance and maybe they've got a baby that's due in the offseason?" he said. "Yeah, it gets personal."

Light said he is doing his best to educate his teammates on how to prepare.

"They've got to look at it like they're going into a period in which they are going to change their financial situation," he said. "Nobody knows what's going to happen. But if you're going to go a year without getting paid, you need to prepare accordingly."

New England linebacker Tully Banta-Cain said he was already squirreling away his savings in case of a lockout. Banta-Cain said he was also working on his outside businesses, which include a clothing line and a music label.

"I'm trying to prepare," he said. "And I'm trying to establish my off-the-field businesses and make sure I can make money in the offseason."

http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/...ming/full/

Yeah. Don't spend all of that $30,000 paycheck this week. Save a little. Or don't spend all of that $100,000 paycheck this week.

Give me a break.

It doesn't matter, there's no way the NFL and the NFLPA are going to allow a work stoppage to occur. It would damage both sides significantly and could allow other sports to gain ground on their product.

Sources: NFLPA builds collusion case

By Chris Mortensen
ESPN

The NFL Players Association is on the brink of filing a collusion grievance against NFL owners based on a case it has been building since only one of 216 restricted free agents was signed to an offer sheet during the offseason, according to union sources.

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith is reviewing the case that has been collected by his legal team and is expected to approve a collusion filing with the Special Master by Wednesday's deadline, as dictated by the current CBA. The Dec. 8 deadline is established as within 90 days of the regular-season opener, which was Sept. 8.

While many details have not been revealed, union sources concede that previous reports of a collusion case center on the lack of activity with the 216 restricted free agents, which quadrupled in size because of the uncapped-year rules in 2010. The union has gathered what it believes is similar dialogue that a variety of teams expressed when communicating with agents who represented the players, a source said.

Saints running back Mike Bell was the only restricted free agent to sign an offer sheet. The Philadelphia Eagles acquired his services when New Orleans declined to match the offer.

While Bell's signing represented less than 1 percent of the restricted free agent class in 2010, the comparison to 2009 is debatable, inasmuch as only four of 55 RFAs, or 7 percent, were signed to offer sheets with none changing teams.

Jeff Pash, the NFL's vice president of legal counsel/labor and point man, has previously stated that the uncertain labor future in 2011 accounted for the lack of restricted free agent activity.

The union's collusion charges, if filed, include other elements of what it considers illicit activity, a source said.

However, even while union and management are making plans in the event of a work stoppage on March 4 when the CBA expires, sources on both sides concede that negotiations will continue and could produce a new agreement before that deadline. Compromise on many issues, including the salary-cap formula, is still very possible, sources said. Pash told the SportsBusiness Journal in an interview last week that he expects a deal to be completed by March 3.

Until then, the rhetoric and activity has been cast as gloomy as the league and union negotiate over financial matters and an 18-game regular season.

If the union actually files collusion charges this week and Special Master Stephen Burbank allows the case to proceed, it could benefit the union's mission to gather discovery on management documents.

NFL owners and team executives will convene Dec. 15 in Fort Worth, Texas, next week to discuss labor matters.

Chris Mortensen is ESPN's Senior NFL Analyst.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5887475