NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement-2006

[turningpoint]

for the videogame fans outthere, if no deal it could void the madden exclusive rights on nfl and bring back the nfl2k series.

[Whur CHad At?]

Here is the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2351271

NEW YORK -- A few hours after NFL owners voted to continue their standoff with the players' union, the league extended its deadline for free agency by three days and resumed talks.

The breakthrough came with a mutual agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association Thursday afternoon.

Things had looked bleak Thursday morning when owners rejected the union's latest proposal. No new talks were scheduled. While the owners were willing to give the players 56.2 percent of total revenues, the players were asking for 60 percent along with a revenue sharing formula among owners.

Now, there is a little breathing room to try to do a deal.

The owners' vote to reject a union proposal after a 57-minute meeting earlier in the day had seemed to end 13 years of labor peace. The action left the salary cap at $94.5 million for the start of free agency, which had been scheduled to begin Friday.

Without a new deal, teams that expected a cap about $10 million higher would have to cut players to become cap compliant, casting more players onto the market, but leaving little cap space to sign them. That deadline has been pushed back until 6 p.m. ET Sunday.

[AGrizzlyBaer]

sheeze this is terrible we can only hope this gets done

[bengalboomer7]

See, I want it to get done, but not until after FA

Even though the Bengals dont' get very creative with contracts, and even though I'm not a big advocate of free agency, a lack of any CBA takes a s**tload of teams completely out of FA. We'd get to better "handpick" what we wanted and less teams would have any opportunity to make an offer. And because of the CBA, most deals are gonna be low, so this is perfect FA scenario for Mikey. We get to pick who we want, then we get to underpay them

I don't think it[s "DOOMSDAY" like so many people state.

[Stripes]

I don't think it[s "DOOMSDAY" like so many people state.

I agree if they can get the deal done after FA and our shopping spree... but I am not sure if that'd be likely. I hope it just gets fixed, now or later.

[HairOnFire]

It's good news as it means an agreement is still possible. But I swear I was all geared up for massive cuts, blood spilled everywhere, and all-around anarchy.

(((Heavy Sigh)))

Instead, the clock has been stopped, and the only real blood that has been spilled comes by way of a condemmed smilie.

[ArmyBengal]

I have stated and continue the stand with, no CBA extension = bad news, but have to admit all the craziness with watching these teams go on cutting sprees trying to get under the cap is fun to watch.

All the Snyders of the league have been losing their f*cking minds and I have enjoyed it for the time being. That being said, I hope they get something done...

WHODEY !!!

[Kazkal]

for the videogame fans outthere, if no deal it could void the madden exclusive rights on nfl and bring back the nfl2k series.

damn I gotta root for it doesn't get done

[Whur CHad At?]

for the videogame fans outthere, if no deal it could void the madden exclusive rights on nfl and bring back the nfl2k series.

damn I gotta root for it doesn't get done

How can you people possibly like the NFL2k games...they are horrible. The NFL will get this thing situated Madden will be back in full gear this August

[lando griffin]

signing draft picks is going to suck ass.

Agreed. I don't know if I could handle watching the Bengals turn into the Reds, especially when everything has been built right and for the long-term. If the Redskins and Cowboys became the Yankees and Red Sox, and the Bengals became the Reds...I can't even think about it right now.

btw you really should read up on what it means when the cba wont be extended, just cause there is no cap means, doesn;t mean the other million rules the nfl has wont apply.

you look like a moron.

Dude, I have no idea what you said after "cba wont be extended"...you seem like the moron

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

for the videogame fans outthere, if no deal it could void the madden exclusive rights on nfl and bring back the nfl2k series.

damn I gotta root for it doesn't get done

How can you people possibly like the NFL2k games...they are horrible. The NFL will get this thing situated Madden will be back in full gear this August

Maybe because the ESPN game was far superior to the madden craP?

[turningpoint]

$100 says whur chad at has never played nfl2k5 and runs the same 3 plays on madden.

[WretchedOne]

Uhhh...

The NFL really has a whole extra 365 days to actually get this thing whole thing worked out.

2006 is not the uncapped year.

Thats what I don't get, everyone is freaking out about this thing, and yes, it does its disadvantages right now, but the owners and players technically have another year of trying to work this out before there is an uncapped year.

And if nothing ever gets done...

There is always college football. The worst they can do there is the BCS.

Or Roller Derbies.

[HoosierCat]

We'd get to better "handpick" what we wanted and less teams would have any opportunity to make an offer. And because of the CBA, most deals are gonna be low, so this is perfect FA scenario for Mikey. We get to pick who we want, then we get to underpay them

You'd think so -- but of course you'd be wrong. You forget that the Bengals are an impoverished, cap-strapped club. All they have is a tiny $4-5 million cushion to sign a backup QB and do an extension or two.

[derekshank]

Mort just broke that the two sides are meeting again, with every indication that they will get a deal done before FA hits. It looks like the owners tried to call the players union bluff... but they weren't bluffing. They'll probably meet somewhere in the middle... and everything will be as it should be in the NFL.

This may not be the result some of you wanted, who were hoping the Bengals would be able to cherry pick big name guys... but many of those guys will still be out there... and now we can all look forward to the Bengals continuing to better themselves, AND doing it with the future stability of the league staying in tact.

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

Wretched, the reason people are freaking out is because this affects the choices teams make during the draft. Lets say we go into this draft without an agreement. Levi and Eric are ours for another 2 years. We don't have to worry about them becoming free agents after this season, so we don't have to worry about potentially drafting to replace them. At the same time, when we do draft, no agreement changes how we can write contracts. No agreement changes what we can do in free agency.

[cover2]

The Bengals are a cash strapped team......yawn. When have you seen them be creative with signings....never and never will. This year will be a buyers market hopefully we can take advantage of it.

[ArmyBengal]

I'm still waiting to see who the Bengals are going to let loose !!!

Ohisuckalote pack your SH*T !!!

WHODEY !!!

[Whur CHad At?]

$100 says whur chad at has never played nfl2k5 and runs the same 3 plays on madden.

I played it and traded it in the next day cuz it was the worst graphics and gameplay i have ever seen.

[HairOnFire]

This may not be the result some of you wanted, who were hoping the Bengals would be able to cherry pick big name guys... but many of those guys will still be out there... and now we can all look forward to the Bengals continuing to better themselves, AND doing it with the future stability of the league staying in tact.

Shank, let me clarify. I've always wanted to see a new agreement, but for the Bengals the so-called worst case scenario didn't seem bad at all, and an impasse offered me the guilty pleasure of seeing the bill come due for all of the teams who circumvented the spirit and purpose of the salary cap. With a new agreement, and the additional 10-15 million added to the cap, owners like Snyder get another opportunity to push the bill away. They become FA players again, and the Bengals return to their familiar role.

[Dan2330]

I see a lot of defensive players that have already been cut by teams. Bengals should be able to pick up some decent FA on the D based off the cuts that were made last night and already today

[HoosierCat]

It appears that "cash over cap," one thing hated above nearly all others in the Bengals front office, is emerging as a major issue in the ongoing attempts to hammer out a new CBA. From Lenny:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor..._len&id=2352890

The article helps illustrate why I, and many others, get annoyed with the "we have no cap space" poor-mouthing that issues regularly from Hobson at bengals.com. At its core, that blather is founded on a lie: that the cap represents a hard ceiling. It doesn't. The real issue is the Bengals' willingness and ability to engage the same cash over cap tools as the rest of the league. They have the ability -- not on the par of some clubs but about the same as many and better than some others -- but when asked directly about it, the front office has said it will not pay cash over cap, period.

Brown, as Lenny notes in his piece, has been at the forefront of the anti-cash over cap movement for some time, and it may be now that he gets something done about it. IMHO, that wouldn't be a bad thing. What will be interesting to see is if the Bengals change their spending habits if cash over cap, too, is capped.

[bengalboomer7]

One thing I read on PFT that caught my eye said that last year the Bengals were the most profitable team in the league. Mikey really is cheap

[HoosierCat]

One thing I read on PFT that caught my eye said that last year the Bengals were the most profitable team in the league. Mikey really is cheap

They are up there. I wouldn't say Mikey is cheap; greedy, perhaps, but not cheap. You can look at the Forbes numbers here:

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/30/Revenues_2.html

Note that Buffalo's revenues are only ahead of the Bengals' by a couple million, and the Bengals actually have greater revenues than Oakland, Indy or Minnesota -- and these are all teams that the Bengals allegedly couldn't compete with financially because they are a small-market club. Another lie. The Bengals couldn't compete because they weren't prepared to take the hit on their profits. Well, fair enough. Mikey is entitled to set his own margins. But it would be nice if they just said so instead of pleading nonexistent poverty.

[BengalChamps]

Good article by Len P. But i dont understand why this is such a big issue for MikeyBoy. Most FA's dont pan out, and they end up getting cut, and the team that signed them ends up in "salary cap hell" for a couple of years.

I maybe missing something here, but cash over cap does not appear to have hurt the Bengals competive ability for the last 3 years. It also has not hurt the Squeelers who are our main rival. The teams with the huge cash over cap ability do not seem to have been rewarded for it with wins on the field. The Pats dont build through FA either. The Pats have shown that you win through the draft and not overpaying for FA. Keep following the Pats model and you dont have to worry about cash over cap. Just let Wash and Dallas continue to overpay for over-the-hill "name" players.

This should not be a deal breaker. GET THE DEAL DONE! Find a way to share BILLIONS of $. Dont kill the goose that layed the golden egg.