With the calendar approaching July, and urgency heightened, NFL owners began meeting this morning at 10 a.m. at the Westin Hotel in Chicago near O'Hare Airport.
With so much at stake and a lot to be discussed with owners that haven't been intimately involved in the three weeks of negotiations with the players that began May 31, the league's labor committee, commissioner Roger Goodell and league attorneys also met for about two hours Monday afternoon in advance of today's meeting.
Goodell is informing owners that the next proposed agreement would include a 48 percent share of "all revenue," for the players, without the highly-debated $1 billion credit off the top for owners, according to a report by ESPN's Chris Mortensen. The new formula would not allow the players' percentage to dip below 46.5 percent. It's a major shift in the approach, as the players received 60 percent of "total revenue" after the $1 billion credit in the last CBA. Owners initially wanted an additional $1 billion credit, which ostensibly was to go toward news stadiums and stadium renovations, along with other projects for increasing overall revenue.
Mortensen also reported that a rookie wage scale proposal is being "tweaked" and that the hotly-debated 18-game regular-season schedule the owners have been seeking would only be listed as a negotiable item going forward.
League counsel Jeff Pash and outside attorney Bob Batterman were present. Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen are the co-chairs of the labor committee.
Others from the committee in attendance were Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Green Bay Packers chief executive officer Mark Murphy, Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, New York Giants owner John Mara, Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney and San Diego Chargers president Dean Spanos.
Considered an encouraging sign today is that each team had a second club executive in addition to the owners, and they are from the football operations side. Input there is important as the league gets set to ramp up a compacted free-agent signing period as teams with around 50-55 signed players have to go about the business of also signing draft picks and undrafted players and increasing the camp roster to 80 players and perhaps more.
Present at the meetings include Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren, Washington Redskins general manager Bruce Allen, Indianapolis Colts vice chairman Bill Polian, Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay and Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli.
Colts owner Jim Irsay, who has previously said it's important to have a deal done by July 4, told reporters before the meeting started, "It just makes sense to have a sense of urgency. It doesn't make sense to get a deal on Oct. 1 when something could've been done by July 14.
"Ninety-five percent of both sides want to get something done. There's hope. These are tough, fragile negotiations. We've just got to keep moving. Now's the time to keep pressing on, to chug along. These things stop and start, but you stay the course. We'll see what happens. … It's the season for getting a deal done."
This meeting, which originally was thought might extend into Wednesday, is now expected to end today. It is also seen as critical for Goodell.
One owner told Yahoo! Sports, "There's a lot on the line. I don't envy Roger's position because he has to make a lot of people happy. I think there's enough common sense out there that we'll get something done, but there are also some (owners) who still want to fight."
Another owner said. "Your first reaction to most deals is to poke holes in it. It's human nature. You always want the perfect deal, everything to go your way, and you have to think it through to figure out what's acceptable. In this case, you have to multiply that process by 32 … when we sit down and look over this deal, I'm curious how the room is going to react. We're at a critical stage."
Pash told NFL Network on Monday, "We're giving the clubs a briefing on the status of the labor discussions. And we'll allow them to ask any questions, give them a legal update on the status of the various court actions, and just make sure they fully understand everything that's happened over the last month and make sure they're fully informed as we proceed through the end of this month and into July.
"They get a chance to ask questions, and more importantly, they get a chance to talk to each other and hear from other owners. I think that's always valuable. It's at least leaving here with the same information. People will have different views on things, I think that's inevitable. But at least they'll have common information."
It is believed after the meetings end, more secret talks will occur with the players beginning on either Wednesday or Thursday.
