Tag: NFLPA

NFLPA wins grievance vs. Jags for fining players over offseason rehab process

The Jags have found themselves in trouble with the players union again.

Due to a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the league’s biggest topics of discussion after what was supposed to be a victory Monday. Per multiple media outlets, an arbitrator ruled in the NFLPA’s favor after it filed a grievance against the organization.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero posted the email players union’s email, which states the team fined an anonymous player over $700,000 for missing an offseason rehab process which the Jags were trying to make mandatory at their facility. The statement is one that came down hard on the Jags’ warning players to heavily consider what they are getting into when signing with the organization which has accounted for 25% of all recent NFL grievances.

The player who was fined was revealed to be former pass-rusher Dante Fowler Jr. according to the Associated Press.

 

These issues with the NFLPA seem to be mostly due to Jags football executive Tom Coughlin, who has a great deal of history with the union. The team hired him almost three years ago and things haven’t gone well with the player’s union since.

The statement highlighted Fowler’s incident in 2018, but there was a similar incident that occurred back in 2017 and it was believed then that something could come from it. Evidently, the Jags continued their stance on rehabbing at the facility during the offseason past that point and now have to deal with the consequences.

Most fans will also be quick to remember the legal process the NFLPA got into with the Jags as running back Leonard Fournette filed a grievance against the Jags in January for voiding the remainder of his contract guarantees. Another notable incident with the union  also occurred months later in the offseason, when Coughlin singled out Jalen Ramsey and Telvin Smith for missing the voluntary part of the offseason. The NFLPA fired back with a statement to the organization, explaining what the term “voluntary” meant.

The NFLPA’s recent grievance isn’t one in which looks good on owner Shad Khan’s part when considering the team is likely heading for a rebuild and will need to show players that the organization is worth playing for down the road. It especially could increase the likelihood that Coughlin’s days (and several others in the front office) are coming to a close with the organization.

Jets RB Le’Veon Bell calls out NFL for repeated drug tests

Jets running back Le’Veon Bell called out the NFL for drug testing him five times in the last 10 weeks.

Jets running back Le’Veon Bell has had enough of the NFL’s drug-testing program.

Bell lashed out on Twitter on Wednesday morning, calling out the league for randomly drug testing him five times in the last 10 weeks. He then said he’s not doing any more drug tests for HGH because he has passed them every single time and doesn’t like needles.

Bell then spoke to the media about it on Wednesday afternoon. He continued to tell reporters that he is not a fan of needles and instead would rather drop his pants and pee in a cup. Bell understands that drug tests are a part of his job, but he is starting to get suspicious of the system.

“Is it random, though?” Bell asked. “Why do I feel like every time they’re here doing an HGH testing, I get picked?”

Per the NFL collective bargaining agreement, players are not subject to more than six tests a year. So while Bell is upset about getting picked, the league and the players union are well within their right to test Bell five times in 10 weeks. If Bell were to be picked for another test and refuse, he would be subject to discipline from the league.

“If we got to cross that bridge when we get there, then we got to cross that bridge when we get there,” Bell said.

The 27-year-old running back was suspended for two games back in 2015 for  DUI and marijuana possession charges. The next year, he was suspended for three games for missing a random drug test.

Now, Bell’s biggest issue is the method, not the fact that he’s been tested so many times. He was very clear about his disdain for needles.

“I’m not doing it no more,” he said. “They’re not getting no more of my blood.”

NFL, NFLPA nearing deal on 17 regular season games, 14 playoff teams

The NFL and NFLPA are nearing a deal that would increase the number of regular season games to 17 and playoff teams to 14.

The NFL structure as we know it may soon come to an end as the NFL and NFLPA are nearing a deal on a 17-game regular season and the addition of two playoff teams, bringing the total from 12 to 14.

The Washington Post reports that owners have agreed to make concessions — concessions that remain somewhat unclear at the moment — in order to get players to set aside their concerns about an additional regular season game, which likely means fewer preseason games.

Negotiators for the NFL and the NFL Players Association have made meaningful progress toward a new labor agreement that is increasingly likely to include a 17-game regular season, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.

The positive momentum has buoyed optimism for an agreement to be in place by the end of the upcoming NFL postseason.

“I think there’s some real intensity and opportunity over the next few weeks,” one person familiar with the state of the negotiations said, adding that the participants are “working hard” to complete a deal.

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement runs through the 2020 season and the NFLPA has already begun to inform players to save money in the event of a work stoppage, but both the NFL and NFLPA are feverishly working to avoid that.

Negotiations will continue over the next two months with both parties hopeful that a final deal will be reached during the playoffs in January or by the Super Bowl in February. However, if a deal is not struck at that point, pressure would mount to get something done ahead of the 2020 regular season, when the first 17-game season could theoretically go into effect.

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