Ongoing CBA discussions

3 weeks today

Seriously. I know we all have different opinions of who is right, who is wrong, who needs to give a little and who needs to stand firm.

BUT For anything to happen these guys need to sit down, talk through the issues, and find a way.

I think they know that the lockout is inevitable at this point. There is no point to have meetings when they already know that they can't change anything....sad.

But maybe, let's hear it for the Replacement Redskins?? Shane Falco as QB maybe???

NFL Labor Negotiations - NFL Topics - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nfl/topics/_/page/nfl-labor-negotiations)

From: San Francisco Chronicle: NFL Considering Replacement Player Options?

07:11 AM ET 05.06 | At this time of year, unsigned players are working out in hopes of signing as free agents. It's also an interesting time for the teams, as they look ahead to the possibility of a lock out in 2011. Fringe players might become starters if there's a long labor dispute. The NFL went with replacement players in 1987 during the last protracted labor stalemate. The league might already be making preparations and rumors are they are going to buy a 25 percent stake in the United Football League. The UFL, which now has five teams and plays six games in the fall, could become a feeder league along the line of NFL Europe. However, if there's a long lockout, UFL players could possibly become NFL players overnight.

What baffles me more is Hocky has similar violent hits, they have fist fights, getting hit with a heavy puck flying at 90 mph, and the fear of at any time bouncing their heads off the rock hard ice. Yet they play a ton more games.

I think everyone is also missing the point that though they wanted to add 2 more games, there was the thought that they would allow more players on the team as well. Instead of the 53 it was rumored that they might up the number if there were 18 games. Plus I don't really see the big deal. I understand the worry that 2 more games take the toll on the body but they could just as easily be injured after game 2 of the season so maybe the league should either turn the NFL into flag football or simply make it a televised computer game (Madden) so no one has to worry about injuries.

I'm not missing that point at all, but at the end of the year do you want to see your team's starter (whoever that is in our case) or 3rd string qb? Increasing the roster size is essentially an admission that there will be more guys on IR or the PUP list.

I don't follow hockey, but it doesn't seem to have the extreme collision hits the nfl does, or the dangerous piling on leg injuries. Two more games is a big deal. As it is 16 games is too much. Before that the season was 14, before that 12, before that 10.

It's not just about injuries though, the NHL, NBA & major league baseball all have created a regular season product that even devoted fans can't or don't pay much attention to. The NFL IMO is pushing the limits on the demand for their product. There are already several 'meaningless' games at the end of the year, a longer schedule would increase that. And just like a preseason game, someone big like Brady or Manning, will get hurt in game 17 or 18 when their team has little to no mathematical chances of improving their playoff position.

I still hold out a lot of hope that the 18 game season is a bargaining chip as an earlier article mentioned. Certainly there is a ton of posturing on both sides, and to give up the 18 game season would appear, now, as a huge concession by the owners.

I often wonder when people start sighting their "poll" percentages if the poll was done fair? I mean I never knew there was a poll and I'm in favour of the 18 game season. Plus I know the poll is supposed to simply give them an idea of numbers but I don't Twitter and is 1,200 responses an acturate assessment of what the actual populace wants?

I understand preseason, and the main reason for it, to be able to evaluate the young talent. But honestly why don't they just simply have more scrimages? or after the 1st two weeks of team drills and practice teams would be allowed to practice against each other with out the violent hits.

This points out to me part of the reason the 'reduce preseason' & increase the regular season argument is bogus; if the preseason is cut coaches will still need to evaluate their players in live contact. I appreciate your suggestion about practicing w/out hits, but don't know how well that can be done. Maybe there will actually be in season limits to full contact drills as part of a new deal, just as there are such limits for OTAs in the current deal.

Honestly 16 weeks plus playoffs is enough for me. I am pretty much NFL burned out by this time of the year. By week 14 or so it starts feeling like your Sunday afternoon part time job. Maybe I am just at a stage in life where I have better things to do then waste 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon watching football, doesn't mean I am not a fan just means I have different priorities now.

I agree. Towards the end of the season it does start to feel like a job a little. However how much of this is because we rarely have anything to celebrate towards the end of the year other than a good draft pick? Your statement of week 14 sounds just about right for when the Skins are pretty much out of the playoffs.

Honestly 16 weeks plus playoffs is enough for me. I am pretty much NFL burned out by this time of the year. By week 14 or so it starts feeling like your Sunday afternoon part time job. Maybe I am just at a stage in life where I have better things to do then waste 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon watching football, doesn't mean I am not a fan just means I have different priorities now.

I don't feel that way at all. The day the season ends is one of the worst days of the year for me. I have other things to do, too, and "different priorities." But I also recognize that every April I wish I could watch football, yet I can't, so I feel gratitude even towards the end of the season in December.

That said, I am opposed to 18 games. It just puts off the inevitable for two weeks in terms of the end of the season. It also is bad for the players.

This is what I'm refering to....

If March 4 arrives without an extension of the current CBA, which was and still is the settlement agreement of the antitrust case filed by Reggie White and others many years ago, Judge David Doty’s jurisdiction over the relationship between the two parties ends. Given that the league has tried to have Judge Doty bounced based on the perception that he has a union bias, the NFL surely would like to find a way to do a Doty-free deal. The union, on the other hand, surely would like to keep Doty involved.

I agree. Towards the end of the season it does start to feel like a job a little. However how much of this is because we rarely have anything to celebrate towards the end of the year other than a good draft pick? Your statement of week 14 sounds just about right for when the Skins are pretty much out of the playoffs.


I am sure the Redskin's lack of success in the past century has fueled this feeling of "work" as well for me.

I don't feel that way at all. The day the season ends is one of the worst days of the year for me. I have other things to do, too, and "different priorities." But I also recognize that every April I wish I could watch football, yet I can't, so I feel gratitude even towards the end of the season in December.

That said, I am opposed to 18 games. It just puts off the inevitable for two weeks in terms of the end of the season. It also is bad for the players.

I hear ya. Sounds kinda corny but I feel kinda empty once the season ends and all of a sudden my Sundays are wide open. On one hand it's nice to have all that free time again, but for the first few Sundays I feel a bit lost. Especially coming off the playoffs - which is always the best football of the year regardless of whether the Skins are in or not.