Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
NFL owners voted to approve the proposed labor agreement with the NFL Players Association on Thursday, putting the potential end of the league’s lockout in the hands of the players, who might vote on the proposed deal Thursday night.
NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday were working to impose certain conditions to immediately lift the lockout if the two sides approve a deal tonight, according to sources.
NFLPA sources say league lawyers Bob Batterman and Gregg Levy were pushing for the condition that the lockout remain in effect until the players recertify as a union. However, there was more dialogue between Goodell and Smith throughout the day to build a trust that in the event the players approve the agreement later Thursday, the lockout could be immediately lifted if the players also agree to re-certify as a union.
Players then would begin the process of acquiring enough player signatures to begin the recertification process, which would allow the 10-year agreement to formally become a collective bargaining agreement. Under that scenario, the league would open facilities so the players could use them to discuss the matter and get signed union cards as early as Friday.
The NFLPA has scheduled an 8 p.m. ET conference call with its executive committee and player reps to decide whether to accept an approved settlement from owners, and how to start the voting process for the 1,900 players who have to decide if they want to vote in a recertified union.
Smith addressed the ongoing negotiations in a short news conference outside the trade association’s Washington, D.C., headquarters on Thursday afternoon.
“We continue to talk. There are some issues that are outstanding that are left to resolve,” Smith said.
He also said the decision to recertify as a union wouldn’t be taken lightly, just as the choice to decertify in March was taken seriously “because we were a real union” — taking a shot at owners’ claims that the NFLPA’s decertification was a “sham.”
“The decision to decertify as a union was a significant one,” Smith said. “Every individual person has to make a decision on whether they want to become part of a union. The individual decisions are something that our players take extremely serious.”
The players were unable to negotiate a one-time only application of the franchise tag, which is something that was of particular interest to the plaintiffs in the Brady vs. NFL antitrust case.
An NFLPA official said: “Are we happy with that result? No. Is it worth hanging up a deal with 1,900 players? No. The tag has had very few multiple uses and does carry some financial rewards for players. Not allowing more transition tags, via right of first refusal, was a big victory. That would have impact more free agents than franchise tags.”
Information from ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, ESPN.com senior NFL writer John Clayton and ESPN national correspondent Sal Paolantonio was used in this report & FULL STORY HERE
