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Update:
The NFLPA's board of representatives is no longer planning to vote today on the proposed CBA, source said. Instead, the board and NFLPA executive committee hope to meet soon with the NFL Management Council Executive Committee and vote thereafter.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 21, 2020
Original article:
The year-long negotiations over the Collective Bargaining Agreement have reached crunch time, and 6 members of the executive committee decided to express their displeasure by voting not to recommend the current agreement.
The proposal is nowhere close to dead, however. It goes next to the board made up of 32 player representatives.
The executive committee is the group that is responsible for negotiating the deal. It is led by NFLPA president Eric Winston. Some members, including VPs Russell Okung and Richard Sherman, have voiced opposition to the deal. But the 32 player reps carry the hammer. Talks ongoing.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 21, 2020
The agreement needs to be approved by 2/3 of these reps (so 22 votes needed to pass).
If that hurdle is achieved, then the proposal goes to the full player's union membership, where only a 50% + 1 majority is required for approval.
Section 5.02 of the NFLPA constitution says: "(P)owers of the Board shall include ... the general conduct of collective bargaining and the ratification of the Collective Bargaining Agreement ... " Which certainly suggests the board can take control of the process as it sees fit.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 21, 2020
With the negotiated agreement adding jobs, mobility from practice squad to regular roster, another returning player from IR, and a significant increase in minimum salaries (affecting about 45% of players), the proposal is likely to be approved by the players IF it gets past the 32 player reps.
If the proposal is rejected, then the union and owners could engage in some last minute deal-making to try to get the new CBA in place ahead of the new league year. If they can't agree, though, the league would simply move forward into the 2020 season under the current CBA, and head back to the drawing board on a new deal.
The coming hours and days should prove very interesting as the league tries to finalize the labor agreement that will control the player-owner relationship for the next decade.