CBA Vote Could Boil Down to Dollars and Cents

While Aaron Rodgers and other high-profile players have spoken against the deal, it would benefit the NFLPA's largest group of voters.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The proposed collective bargaining agreement, which potentially could bring labor peace to the NFL through the 2030 season, has been sent to the players for a simple up-or-down vote.

“The NFLPA has sent out official ballots to every NFL player who was a dues-paying member in the 2019 season to cast their vote on a new collective bargaining agreement,” the NFL Players Association announced on Thursday. “As outlined in our constitution, ratification of a new deal is subject to approval by a majority of our members who vote. … We encourage every NFL player to review the full collective bargaining agreement and exercise their democratic right to vote.”

Voting will be open through Thursday, March 12 – six days before the 2020 league-year is set to begin. The ballots will be confidential and will be received and counted by an independent auditor.

Through “conversations I have had with the men in my locker room that I’m tasked to represent,” Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been one of the high-profile players who have been vocal against the deal. A centerpiece of a new CBA is the addition of a 17-game season, which would go into effect for the 2021 season.

Video: 17-game season would mean three-game preseason

“The owners made it clear that the 17th game is about paying for the ‘added’ benefits, and had nothing to do with the positive feedback received about any extra risks involved with the added regular season game,” Rodgers wrote on Feb. 26. “There were also many issues raised about the workplace, the workload and offseason program. Some have been addressed, while others have not. With an extra game added to the schedule, added risk, and longer stretches before and after the bye week, we felt it was important to address adding more offseason recovery time. The ideas discussed would not add costs for teams, in fact if anything, would lessen some of them.”

Rodgers was voted by the team's player rep by his teammates. His social-media post gained likes from some of them, including offensive linemen David Bakhtiari and Lane Taylor.

Whether the CBA is approved will depend largely on the league’s legion of minimum-wage players. Will they heed the concerns of veterans like Rodgers, Russell Okung or Richard Sherman? Or will they listen to their wallets and self-interest? While players like Rodgers have enjoyed long careers and made tens of millions of dollars, most of the league’s players live a different financial reality.

About 60 percent of the league’s players make minimum salaries, and those are the ones who would benefit most from a new CBA. For instance, a rookie contract for the 2020 season is set to be $510,000 under the final year of the current CBA. Under a new CBA, that would rise to $610,000. A second-year player would see his salary go from $585,000 to $675,000.

“I understand what Aaron’s saying, but I’m just worried about making it (in 2020),” one minimum-salary player told Packer Central. “You hate to think like this, but what if this year is my last year? That’s how a lot of us see it. We’re young. There’s no guarantee we’re going to make (a roster in 2021). Who cares about another game if I’m making another $100K? We’ve all worked so hard to get here that I feel like I need to get what I can now.”

Former Packers lineman J.C. Tretter, who at Cornell was enrolled in the school of industrial and labor relations, is the Cleveland Browns’ alternate player representative. Tretter, through Bakhtiari, listed numerous concerns with the proposed CBA.

“Keep in mind with the additional game, the season will be extended one week, so everyone’s offseason will be one week shorter than previous years,” Tretter wrote, one of his many concerns about the CBA.

In response to Tretter’s post, former Packers guard T.J. Lang said: “Holy hell this is an absolute MAJOR L for the players. I didn’t think my faith and trust in the PA leadership could get any worse. They are getting laughed at by owners.”

Many high-paid, veteran players have come out against the deal. Said veteran offensive tackle Russell Okung: “The Owners and their broadcast partners would be getting what they want while the product, the Players, would be sacrificing their physical capital for, in my opinion, hardly enough in return.”

Despite the outspoken criticism from several prominent players, the proposal was approved by the league’s player reps 17-14 (Rodgers voted against it; one player abstained), a vote that set the stage for the voting that will happen over the next week.

“I went back to my locker room and received feedback from as many guys as I could,” Detroit Lions linebacker Devon Kennard wrote. “All the other reps did the same and the overwhelming consensus that most reps brought back were: 1/17th game check for all players, a significant bump in minimum salaries, an increase percentage of the cap, a significant increase in benefits and a better quality of life (camp/offseason) schedule). … Overall, this is a deal that is going to lead to NFL players getting paid more than we ever have in the past and I LOVE that.”