NFL world rips owners over proposal to pay players less for 17th game

Sportsnaut ^ | February 20, 2020 | Matt Johnson

[C19fan]

NFL owners have voted to approve their proposal for a new collective-bargaining agreement, leaving it all up to the NFL Players’ Association to decide if the new CBA will go into effect. However, if the reaction from the NFL world is any indication to part of the CBA proposal, fans shouldn’t get their hopes up for labor peace.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the addition of a 17th game into the NFL season would also result in many star players getting paid less for their work. While a 17-game season might not into effect until at least 2022, NFL players would receive significantly less for that 17th game than they receive in each of the first 16 contests.

[C19fan]

What a joke the NFL union is and the CBA proposal. We all know the talk from the League offices about player safety is a joke as the owners want a 17th game and an additional playoff game giving up a meaningless preseason game that most starting players sit our anyway. The players are getting shafted being paid for the 17th game. Under the proposal NFL Playoff have become like the NBA and NHL where close to half the teams will be admitted. If this passes, I forecast when the proposed CBA expires the owners will demand an 18th game and another playoff team.

[MuttTheHoople]

If player safety was important, they’d go back to 14 games, at least 2 bye weeks, no Sunday-Thursday games(only Thursday games after a bye week), and guaranteed contracts.

[mewzilla]

#GetWokeGoBroke

[Cowboy Bob]

Is it no longer NFL Nation...it’s now NFL World?

[a fool in paradise]

it is an annual salary, no?

is the year longer?

[Alberta's Child]

Supposedly, the NFL actually considered a proposal to add a 17th game to the schedule but only allow each player to dress for 16 of them. It was dropped from consideration because it would have been a roster management nightmare.

From what I'm hearing, the NFL's real goal here is to extend the season and the playoff long enough to get the Super Bowl played on the Sunday of President's Day weekend.

[mewzilla]

What would that buy them? Aside from better ad revenue for more games in a sweeps month, maybe?

This has got to mean that the NFL is hurting for revenue, though.

[Terry L Smith]

With the thugworld as part of the lifestyle of the so-called NFL, they make too much money.

[cherry]

football is too long and drawn out as it is....so is nba basketball and lets even get started on baseball.....

have a season and get over it..... dragging a season out 5-6 months is crazy...

[central_va]

Once a team is statically out of play off contention all player salaries for that team should be halved. Sucking should cost money.

[Alberta's Child]

Historically, February was a "dead" time in the sports TV schedule. After the Super Bowl, there were no major sports events to broadcast until the start of the college basketball tournaments in March and the start of MLB in the spring. That's one reason why NASCAR became such a big TV sport -- with the Daytona 500 scheduled in February when it wasn't competing against much in the sports world.

Having the Super Bowl before a Monday holiday every year would probably keep viewers up later at night to watch the entire game and even post-game events.

[Mouton]

There are too many teams now and the season is too long. By the midpoint many teams are physically depleated due to injuries along with outside issues like arrests.

[Gay State Conservative]

Millionaires vs billionaires.

[NobleFree]

Any player who signed a contract based on the current 16-game schedule, which would be every NFL player until at least 2021, would see their game salary capped at $250,000 in the new CBA.

For many of the game’s star players, like Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz, that would result in a dramatic reduction in their pay.

Do owners think they're in such a dominant position that they can shove ridiculous stipulations like this down the players' throats? If they get a strike, they'll have richly earned the loss of revenue.

[ealgeone]

From what I'm hearing, the NFL's real goal here is to extend the season and the playoff long enough to get the Super Bowl played on the Sunday of President's Day weekend.

Why not push back the beginning of the season?

[ealgeone]

Never understood why they don’t play the stuporbowl on a Saturday night. Have kickoff around 8:00 EST.

[Alberta's Child]

They want the Super Bowl on President’s Day weekend. They want to show it on a Sunday when many fans don’t have to work the next day. And starting the season in mid-August just isn’t going to generate nearly as much interest as expanding the TV coverage later in the winter.

[Alberta's Child]

The NFLPA has been receptive to this because the additional game is offset by a shorter preseason and fewer days in training camp.

[NobleFree]

Sure, a 17th game has advantages - a 17th game at reduced pay may be seen as another matter.

[Alberta's Child]

I'm not sure how you make a case that the 17th game is at reduced pay if it is accompanied by a reduction in the work schedule before the first game.

NFL players aren't paid very much during training camp and preseason games. I believe they get a weekly stipend of about $2,000 for the duration of training camp. If they play a 17th game in the regular season but then get 2-3 weeks dropped from training camp, they're coming out ahead.