CBA issues could be overwhelming

Every few years in the NFL 32 billionaires and thousands of millionaires struggle to not get ripped off by one another during labor negotiations.

As Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith lead their respective sides into overtime CBA disputes there will be as many major issues as days for resolution.

But four more days may not be enough to satisfy everyone on all four issues.

Issue 1: How do owners and players split $9 billion annually?

This may seem like an absolutely ridiculous question for any average   person living paycheck to paycheck, but this is a crisis for 1,696 players and 32 owners.

Yes, this is their lone monetary crisis they face every four to six years.

Under the NFL’s current and soon to be expired CBA, owners are credited $1 billion of total revenue before the players get almost 60% of what is left over.

If owners had not opted out of the current CBA players would have received approximately $4.8 billion, or just over $2.8 million per player.

However, owners want to increase their yearly $1 billion off the top to over $2 billion to help pay for new stadiums, such as Jerry Jones’ new $1.2 billion palace, and to, “build the game,” whatever that means.

Players responded to the owners’ proposal by offering the owners no initial owner’s credit. Rather, the players recommended a 50/50 split of total revenue, which the owners resoundingly denied.

Such a deal would give players $4.5 billion, or about $2.65 million per player, which would be a $300 million pay cut compared to the current deal.

Adam Schefter was told by a source the owners and players are approximately $800 million – $25 million per team – apart from reaching an agreement on how to allocate the league’s annual total revenue.

To put things into perspective, from the billionaires and millionaires point of view, former NBA superstar Latrell Sprewell once said of his multi-million contract negotiation, “I’ve got a family to feed.”

Sprewell was making $14.6 million per season when he said this, but when you look through Sprewell’s eyes you really start to really feel for each side.

How are they going to feed their families?

Issue 2: Can the owners convince the NFLPA to expand the regular reason from 16 to 18 games?

Owners stirred this pot before last season started and set the stage for these last two weeks of negotiation.

Owners publicly proposed expanding the regular season by two games and dropping a pair of preseason games, but the idea was unceremoniously rejected by the players.

Like the first issue, this one revolves around money.

First, the owners claim fans want more meaningful games. Plus, two extra games would increase revenue and the size of everyone’s wallet.

Revenue would increase, but players and fans alike are balking at the idea.

Players uniformly scoffed at the owners, and a poll by the Associated Press revealed only a fourth of fans support an 18-game schedule.

Those are not the results owners were hoping for, particularly from fans.

For the Players Association to agree to an 18-game regular season they will insist on appropriate compensation for playing two extra games, extensive cutbacks in offseason training programs and expanding the 53-man roster to at least 58 players.

Players have gained a lot of leverage, at least from fans, in stating extra games equate to additional injuries, which would validate more money in each player’s bank account.

Here is an easy example to understand the players’ perspective. If a player making $1.6 million per season played 16 games he would earn $100 thousand per game. But if the season were expanded to 18 games – and the player’s salary remained at $1.6 million – the player would be paid just under $88 thousand per game.

Would you take a 12% pay cut per work day and work more for your boss?

I did not think so, and neither will the players.

Issue 3: Will owners finally agree to provide long-term health insurance for retired players?

Many former professional football players have serious long-term health issues, but they receive little to no help from the league they helped build into its current empire.

I’m not talking about a guy like Brett Favre who has made tens of millions over his illustrious career. He can easily afford any medical attention he needs on his own.

I’m talking about guys like the late Pro Football Hall of Fame center Mike Webster, who was diagnosed with a severe neurodegenerative disease post-mortem. Webster never earned over $100 thousand per year, yet he dedicated and ultimately lost his life to football.

Under the current CBA players, if they reach a required amount of service in the NFL, are only covered for five years of health insurance before they can expect to be callously denied further medical aid from the NFL.

How many players reach the required amount of service to receive five years of health insurance?

The average NFL career lasts approximately 3.6 years. The required amount service to be fully vested in the current five-year plan is four years.

This means over 50 percent of retired NFL players do not qualify for the NFL’s Player Insurance Program.

For players making close to league minimum, which ranged from $385 to $865 thousand depending on years of league service, health insurance after football is a great concern. These are also the same players who do not last long in the league, so many of them will not receive any medical support from the NFL after retirement.

Both owners and players will have to take pay cuts to fund health insurance for the men that laid the foundation for the NFL to be worth over $30 billion today.

If the average team is worth almost $1 billion the NFL should be able to fund health insurance for retired players with severe medical conditions.

Issue 4: Can the owners and players agree on a rookie wage scale?

Last year’s first NFL draft pick Sam Bradford signed a six-year, $78 million deal to become the highest paid NFL rookie in history. The contract guaranteed Bradford $50 million before he even attended a practice.

This should be the easiest issue for owners and players to come to an agreement on.

Owners do not want to pay unproven players outrageous contracts, and proven NFL players feel enormous amounts of money going to first round draft picks is unwarranted.

Contracts such as Bradford’s could set a team back years if the rookie fails to reach his potential, and veteran players realize they are losing hundreds of millions to 32 untested rookies every year.

This issue is an uncommon common ground for owners and players alike, and it may already be hammered out for the sake of progress.

Issue 5: How will the NFL and NFLPA agree on the four big issues they are dealing with?

Any time a labor dispute occurs there multiple issues to cover, and those issues intertwine with one another.

Owners and players have to be willing to give and take equally to reach a new CBA, and up until last Thursday each side had not given an inch.

That is just it, though.

In football you are not supposed to give the other guy an inch, and  the billionaires and millionaires are proving to carry the same mentality off the field as much as they do on it.