If the NFL and the NFL Players Association hope to have a new anthem policy in place for the start of the regular season, time is running short.
The two sides met again on Monday, and the NFL and NFLPA issued a joint statement in the aftermath of the session: “Today, we continued our productive dialogue on the issues that players have raised awareness about and we remain committed to working together on solutions. In the spirit of our ongoing collaboration and process, we will continue the confidentiality of our discussions.”
In short, this means that there’s no deal yet, and there’s no indication that a deal is coming.
In May, the NFL replaced its existing anthem policy (which allows players to protest during the anthem) with a new policy that requires any would-be protesters to remain in the locker room. The NFLPA challenged the revision with a formal grievance, based on the argument that the NFL failed to engage the union in collective bargaining before making the change.
The NFL responded, eventually, by suspending the enforcement of the new anthem policy against any players as negotiations aimed at a resolution to the issue occurred. Earlier this month, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith disputed the notion that a hard deadline exists for resolving the policy, a position that subtly indicates an awareness that the NFLPA has plenty of leverage on this one.
