After the NFL and NFL Players Association pulled the plug earlier this month during the first of three days that had been set aside for negotiating a new labor deal and jointly announced that all is well, they rescheduled for July 29. Per multiple sources, the July 29 session has been postponed.
The two sides are scheduled to next meet during the first week in August, with several other dates set aside beyond the first week in August.
NFL and NFLPA staff will still meet on Monday to discuss peripheral issues. The big issues -- ultimately, the split of revenue and stadium credits -- will wait.
The NFL has said that it wants to get a new labor deal in place before the start of the regular season. That’s highly unlikely, because the NFLPA doesn’t share the urgency to get it done by then. The more realistic mutual deadline is March 2020.
The August sessions generally won’t include active players who serve on the NFLPA executive committee, given that they’re getting ready for the season. By reducing the number of personalities in the room, the potential for belligerence or nastiness becomes reduced.
Still, a certain amount of belligerence and nastiness should be expected in a multi-billion-dollar negotiation regarding the manner in which those multiple billions of dollars will be divided. It nevertheless seems that the league and the union are hoping to present for the media and the fans a sense that everyone is getting along -- even if they aren’t and, in all fairness, they shouldn’t be.
