The NFL Players Association has taken issue with the apparent effort of the Los Angeles Rams to circumvent the California workers’ compensation system. In response, the Rams concede that, once the move is final, California law will apply regardless of the language of the contract.
Via Rich Hammond of the Orange County Register, the Rams have responded to Saturday’s PFT report regarding the NFLPA’s objection to contractual language selecting Missouri as the forum of choice by admitting that “once the team officially has moved out of Missouri, all of its contracts automatically will fall under California law.” Hammond adds that Rams executives have said the team intends to completely move out of its Missouri headquarters before March 31.
Meanwhile, Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News suggests that the Rams made the contracts subject to Missouri law through the official consummation of the move before the end of March in order to ensure that any players who sign new contracts before the move happens will pay Missouri state income tax, not California state income tax, at a difference of seven percent savings in favor of the player.
If that’s the case, the move actually represents one last gift to the state of Missouri, via the taxes collected on money paid to players while the team is still technically headquartered in the state. If that’s the case, maybe improved communication between the Rams and the NFLPA could have helped this issue from becoming a thing.
