Analysis: the NFL proposal for the "enhanced season"

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Note: Tuesday we will have a projection of the NBA Draft

I have some good news and some bad news about a possible CBA. For the first time in 4 months, the NFL management council reps met with DeMaurice Smith and the NFLPA team yesterday. The proposal that the NFL put on the table is an 18 game regular season that would eliminate 2 preseason games.

On the league side, the preseason games are very profitable. The teams generally require season ticket buyers to also pay full price for the 2 preseason games in their stadium. That has been a bone of contention between the Union and the league for several negotiation cycles. The last agreement solved the problem when the union won a percentage of TOTAL REVENUE in the last CBA.

NFL players currently get a “daily stipend” for their work in the preseason. Under the NFL proposal they would get full salary shares for the 2 games that become part of the regular season. That would add 12.5% of their salary to their gross pay. With the addition to individual players pay, the league is hoping that the players will accept a lower total percentage of revenues. That sounds good. However, as is usually the case with big money deals, things are not that simple.

The addition of 2 regular season games would change the nature of the late season. In the preseason, the starters play a maximum of 3/4ths of a game. Most play only 1/2 of the 3rd game of the preseason. The new “enhanced” season would require them to play 8 extra quarters because they would still play the same amount of preseason snaps to get down their timing.

The league has estimated that the 2 extra regular-season games would require the expansion of rosters to 55 from 53. I have done some analysis that indicates a roster of 60 would be required but no one can say for sure.

What we do know for sure is that the elimination of 2 preseason games would reduce the chance for rookies and young players to improve and to prove their value to the team. The NFL needs to find out which rookie or young players will stick and which need to be cut. The result will be a lot more physical practices and a couple of “controlled scrimmages” to replace the preseason games that are eliminated by the proposal. While the league will not comment on this fact, the NFLPA is very much aware of the extra risk to players.

It is not a coincidence that the union has become more sensitive to the “intensity and tempo of drills.” As a result, several teams this year have lost OTA sessions because they violated the guidelines for those practices. The Union warned the players about the OTAs and reminded them to report any possible violations. That indicates that the Union doesn’t view the “enhanced” season as a positive step.

The Bottom Line:

The Union is not going to look on this proposal warmly. It does give the players a reason to vote for the plan but the NFL is going to have to add 7 not 2 players to each team to get the Union to recommend approval to the members. Without that “seal of approval” the membership would not likely support a new CBA.

Technorati Tags: NFL,DeMaurice Smith,NFLPA,Collective Barginning Agreement,CBA,union,enhanced season,18 game regular season,negotiations
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6 thoughts on “Analysis: the NFL proposal for the "enhanced season"”

  1. Both proposals give a fair result because both teams have agreed to the starting state in overtime, and add a little drama with a match of wits between coaches.

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  2. I can’t imagine players wanting to play 18 regular season games. Injures would be fairly common sometime during the season more so than they are today. Plus the stats would be off the charts when compared to years in the past.

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  3. If they go through with adding two games to the regular season, its going to be a lot easier to break season records in the future as long as players can remain healthy. I’d expect a few new names to begin appearing as star players than usual as a result of this.

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  4. I would think that this would lead to the need to play starters more often due to the fact that there will be more important games during the season, which could lead to more injuries.

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  5. Actually, on the contrary from my point of view. Even though players are going to be able to rest more if they are injured. I believe that along with the expansion of 18 games, this will lead to the development of more marquee matchups.

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  6. If the NFL wants more marquee matchups then change the scheduling. Who wants to see a division winner play against a 4th place team in the other conference. Let division winners play the other conference’s 4 winners.

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