NFL owners vote unanimously to opt out of labor deal

[magicfan4life05]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3404596

ATLANTA -- NFL owners have voted unanimously to opt out of a labor contract, which will now expire in 2011.

The decision to exercise the option is not expected to have any significant impact on the next two seasons, 2008 and 2009.

However, by opting out of the agreement that was struck on March 9, 2006, the NFL will play 2010 without a salary cap, unrestricted free agency for players would be increased from four years to six years and the orderly selection of college players in the annual draft would not exist after 2011.

These "poison pills" are designed to motivate both the owners and the union to work toward a new collective bargaining agreement.An NFL Players Association source said, "We expect it to happen."

The NFL Players Association had expected the owners would opt out of the deal.

Yeah I dont really know what this means so ill wait for someone to explain it

[Disco_Biscuit]

This really sucks, not only will teams with bigger pockets(Redskins) be able to get whoever they want, They also will be getting the younger talent as indicated by:

However, by opting out of the agreement that was struck on March 9, 2006, the NFL will play 2010 without a salary cap, unrestricted free agency for players would be increased from four years to six years and the orderly selection of college players in the annual draft would not exist after 2011.

This is not gonna be good for the fanbase of the NFL that is for sure.

[Icness]

Lay off the panic button...

All this does is open the negotiations between the owners and the NFLPA. They have until next March to get a new deal done before any of the scenarios (uncapped year, FA years, no draft) kick in.

The primary objective of the owners is to contain expenses, primarily stadium lease deals and escalating player salaries. There will almost certainly be some form of revenue sharing between the clubs--something they had for decades until two CBAs ago.

I do think the salary cap will go away permanently. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, because they will negotiate a maximum percentage of revenue that forms player salaries. The mid-level players will find their salaries go down at the expense of the high-level players, and both sides desperately want a rookie wage scale to curtail what Matt Ryan got yesterday.

I'm formulating an in-depth article about it that should get put up tonight or tomorrow; check the main page or my sig for when it's up.