NFL players were asked on March 5 to cast their ballots on the proposed collective bargaining agreement (CBA) after the language within the 456-page document was finalized. They had until Saturday night to vote. It looks like the league may have a new agreement in place after it was approved by the majority of the players.
The close 1,019-to-959 majority vote extends the CBA through the 2030 season.
Our statement on the CBA vote: pic.twitter.com/3pXydLLQ9c
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) March 15, 2020
The terms were initially agreed to by NFL owners on February 20 and then discussed at length by the 32 NFL Players Association (NFLPA) representatives via a conference call the next day.
Members of the NFLPA executive committee, including San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, met for hours with NFL owners in Indianapolis on February 25, and later approved a measure to pass the proposal on to the nearly 2,000 union players across the league by 17-to-14 vote with one abstainer.
The approval of the new CBA comes before the scheduled start of the new league year on March 18, which means it could impact upcoming free-agent negotiations with players knowing that more money for players and a 17-game season are in the future.
There will be no NFL lockout, which was the case for several months during the 2011 offseason before the previous CBA was finally agreed to on July 25, 2011.
The executive committee, which is responsible for negotiating the deal and led by former NFLPA president Eric Winston, voted six to five to not recommend the new proposal to player representatives after owners approved the deal. Of course, that was just a recommendation but speaks to the stance that several players have against giving up too much when it comes to player safety. Among the most vocal against the new CBA is Sherman and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"I don't think it's something that players are interested in, honestly," Sherman said in February when asked about the potential of a 17-game regular season, "and if that's the point they are negotiating on, I think these negotiations are going to go a lot longer than anticipated."
While the 17-game season isn't expected to start in 2020, the NFL is expected to expand the playoffs during the upcoming season. That will mean adding one team per conference and limiting a first-round bye to one team per conference rather than two.
Each team's active game-day roster will go from 46 to 48 players, with one of the extra players required to be an offensive lineman. Practice squads will expand from 10 to 12 players in 2020, and then to 14 in 2022.
The idea that this might be the best proposal the players will receive, mostly because it will maximize revenue by allowing early negotiations for future television rights and therefore money for players, and preventing a future player lockout, was reportedly pushed by the NFLPA.