NFL, NFPLA negotiate start of league year as teams make big moves

COVID-19 has taken over the world, suspending all sports until further notice. The NFL free agency period could be pushed back as well.

The NFL players came to an agreement on Sunday morning to pass the CBA, which means labor peace has been locked in for a decade. 

In order for the CBA to have passed, at least 50% of the player votes plus one had to be in favor of it. 51.5% of the players voted in favor of the CBA, while 48.5% were not in favor of it, while over 20% abstained from voting all together. Now with the CBA vote out of the way, the next few important dates on the NFL calendar begin this week, or at least they are supposed to as of now.

The NFL and NFLPA are currently in negotiations on whether or not to delay the start of the new league year.

On Monday, March 16 the legal tampering period begins. That is where NFL teams can begin contacting free agents and begin contract negotiations to get ready for the official start of the 2020 free agency period, which begins on Wednesday, March 18.

Another important date to mark on the calendar is again Monday, March 16. This is the last day for teams to franchise or transition tag a player. A team can’t use both tags now due to the new CBA being in place.

That means the Dallas Cowboys can’t franchise tag Dak Prescott and then turn around and transition tag Amari Cooper. They have to sign one of the two if they plan on retaining both offensive weapons.

Many Americans, even people around the world, have been sitting around isolated in their homes with no live sports to watch on their television due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, NCAA and more have suspended and/or cancelled their season. A large number of NFL teams have shutdown their facilities for the time being and have even taken their scouts off the road and sent them home.

The possibility stands that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could push back the start of the new league year and delay the start of NFL free agency. But doing that now could be difficult since once the new CBA was approved, teams throughout the NFL began business as usual.

As soon as the new CBA was agreed upon here are the deals that took place.

The Indianapolis Colts and left tackle Anthony Castonzo agreed to a two-year deal, worth up to $33 million.

The Jacksonville Jaguars traded defensive end Calais Campbell to the Baltimore Ravens for a fifth-round pick. This deal will take place once the new league year begins.

The one that matters the most to the Cowboys situation is what the Tennessee Titans did. They agreed with quarterback Ryan Tennehill to a four-year deal, worth up to $118 million.

With the Titans sticking with Tannehill as opposed to waiting on Tom Brady, this deal makes him the seventh-highest paid quarterback in the league. The Titans situation is very similar to the Cowboys in a sense Tennessee can now franchise tag running back Derrick Henry or tackle Jack Conklin.

What the Titans just did, is what the Cowboys are hoping to do. Sign Cooper and franchise tag Prescott or vice versa.

The league year getting pushed back would allow the Cowboys to have more time to sign both Cooper and Prescott to long term deals. But more importantly it keeps players isolated during the Coronavirus outbreak, which is a bigger issue in this world.

The issues this brings if free agency was to begin on Wednesday as planned are that teams can’t give players physicals, they can’t meet face to face with ownership, coaches or even the current players whom would normally be used as a negotiating tool and teams can’t show players around their facilities.

The NBA season is suspended for at least 30 days and the MLB season won’t begin for at least two weeks. The NFL draft will likely be moved back if the coronavirus spread gets worse as health officials are predicting, about delaying the NFL Draft.

At the current moment, it seems the league is progressing to open on time.

[lawrence-newsletter]