After the NFL Players’ Association pushed back the voting deadline for members to decide on the collective-bargaining agreement, NFL players are reportedly now expected to approve the NFL’s CBA offer.
According to Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman, NFL players are expected to approve the CBA proposal from owners and it could be done by the end of the week. An agreement would result in a 10-year deal between the NFL and its players, ensuring labor peace for the next decade.
Both active and retired NFL players would lose $700 million this year if they rejected the CBA proposal, which also would have put the league’s negotiations for new media deals at risk.
While the deal is now expected to be approved, many of the game’s top stars have come out against it. Michael Thomas, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman and J.J. Watt are among the players who publicly blasted the NFL for their proposal and there is reportedly a growing sense that this could be a bad deal for players.
While the players’ revenue share will increase in the new CBA, NFL owners will now have the authority to expand the NFL Playoffs to 14 teams with an additional Wild Card Game next season and could implement a 17-game season by 2021.
Notably, the NFLPA voted not to allow players to change their votes regarding the CBA proposal.
If a new CBA is approved, the NFL could then push forward with its negotiations on record media deals. Now with Apple TV+ and YouTube TV competing with the likes of CBS, FOX, NBC and Disney, the NFL could be in a position to land even larger deals that would drive up the league’s revenue.