The NFLPA announced Monday afternoon via their official Twitter account that they have voted to extend the deadline to vote on the latest CBA proposal to March 14th at 11:59pm.
The current CBA is set to expire after next season and the owners have been pushing to finalize a new deal before the start of the new league year (and NFL free agency) on March 18th.
The league has already agreed to push back the window to franchise tag players by two days as a result of the ongoing CBA negotiations dragging into late February and early March. The new deadline to franchise players was set at March 12th, which was the original deadline for players to vote on the CBA proposal before the NFLPA extended that deadline Monday. The NFL has not announced whether the franchise deadline will also be extended as a result, but is reportedly considering it. However, the start of the new league year “has a firm March 18 start date”, per Adam Schefter.
Adam Schefter reported that the NFLPA sent the following email to NFL players:
The CBA has divided some players as it is perceived to be much more favorable to the lower-class of the NFL and generally unfavorable for it’s highest paid players. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Texans DE JJ Watt have been among those most publicly against the CBA proposal.
The CBA has divided some players as it is perceived to be much more favorable to the lower-class of the NFL and generally unfavorable for it’s highest paid players. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Texans DE JJ Watt have been among those most publicly against the CBA proposal.
if the NFL and NFLPA can’t come to an agreement before March 18th, it will have a massive impact on free agency and would likely make a collective bargaining agreement much more difficult for the two sides to come to. A large part of the current negotiations from the owners perspective is getting a deal done before March 18th. Once that’s off the table, the owners aren’t expected to be too pleased and could be even more stingy in regards to what they’re willing to offer players in a new CBA.
With the tampering period for teams opening March 16th (almost exactly 24 hours after the deadline for players to vote on the CBA) this latest development brings even more uncertainty to the NFL offseason.
Photo: (NFLPA Twitter)
