Wednesday, March 1, 2006

"Bloody Thursday" on the Horizon?

I have been monitoring the NFL's attempts to extend its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) over the past few months. Like most people, I just assumed it would get done. After all, the NFL has been the model of labor peace since the crippling 1987 strike. The league is consistently cited as the pinnacle of the professional sports leagues. But now, it appears that the league and the players cannot reach an agreement and there labor troubles are afoot.

Len Pasquarelli has an excellent summary of the next step, if an agreement cannot be reached by 4pm today.

    By Thursday, however, when the real-world ramifications of the failed labor talks become more apparent, fans in a lot of NFL precincts will take notice. With negotiations toward an extension having broken off Tuesday afternoon -- despite earlier optimistic reports that the sides were poised to strike an agreement -- salary cap managers from several franchises are readying themselves for what one general manager suggested late Tuesday will come to be known as "Bloody Thursday."

    Translation: Because so many teams are up against the projected cap limit of $95 million to $96 million for 2006, and the lack of a CBA extension means there are few options for relief, some big-name players will be jettisoned by Thursday, when teams must be in compliance with the spending limit.

    "In past years, you'd see a lot of guys released who maybe still had some name value but who were really in decline in terms of production," said one AFC team executive who was working late Tuesday, trying to figure out how to pare down a prohibitively bloated cap figure. "This year? People are going to be stunned -- not just by the quantity of players who are cut by Thursday but by the quality, too. It's going to be ugly. There's going to be blood in the streets and, compared to past years, it's going to be from some bluebloods, guys who can still play."

I recommend the entire article.

It appears that both the players and the owners stand to lose a significant amount from the lack of an agreement and playing 2007 as an "uncapped" year. How much this will hurt football remains to be seen, but as with all things at the top, there is nowhere to go but down.

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