Countdown To Nothing?

Here we go. The Super Bowl is in the books, the debacle that was the Jerry Jones hosting show in Dallas is over (except for the some 400 fans or more who didn’t get the seats they paid for), and the NFL 2010 season is finally a wrap. Now, well, we count down to what could be something, or more likely nothing.

The start of the league new year.

Mark the day on your calendar, or simply check in here often as we will have the CBA covered until we are simply sick of covering it. The day is March 4th. Without there is no free agency, no trades, no nothing. Simply the draft in April that will also not allow any un-drafted players to sign with teams either.

The NFL and the NFLPA have agreed to talk within the next two weeks, twice. This coming from an intense 2 hour talk last week. How intense can two hours be and what do they think they will get done in that time frame? Both sides came out and said publicly in a joint statement that they agree to meet several times to get a deal done by the above mentioned date.

But that doesn’t mean that they will or they can.

(Poll at the end of this article)

Over the next few weeks the grandstanding posture of the NFLPA should be in full swing.  Union Chief, DeMaurice Smith has already asked agents to hold back their incoming college players to boycott the NFL Combine at the end of this month.  While not all agents have spoken on the matter, many feel it would be a complete disservice to their players if they keep them away from that event.  Plummeting any potential draft stock a player may have.

Add to that the request of the NFLPA to withhold all players from attending any draft day events is another one of those selfish acts that only hurts the player.  Being at a draft and hearing your name called as a top 10 pick and walking to the stage with your new jersey and hat is a once in a lifetime event that can never be replaced.  The NFLPA has no business asking that of a player not yet a member of the NFL fraternity.

And so it goes.

The NFL owners will continue to stand on their ground demanding a reduction of the players take, of their coffers and insist that an 18 game schedule is in the best interest of the league and the fans.  In addition, the owners will hold firm to their rights of using a lockout to get what they want and that may end the NFLPA union as they may disband to legally prevent that from happening.

However, the NFL stands to lose millions if not billions of revenue starting with the new year when ad revenue is renewed for the season and traditionally packets are mailed to season ticket holders.  Simply put the owners stand to lose millions and if they lose millions the players will lose millions and if everyone loses millions, the fans will make up the difference at some point.

But all of that means nothing.  What means anything right now is this.  Both sides have a deadline.  It’s March 4th.  If there is no agreement, the start of the new year is delayed and the season itself will become a question mark as the two sides try and hammer out a deal.  Without a deal in place by March 4th, the urgency to get one done will wane until the season draws closer.

It’s much like two years ago when the owners opted out of the deal.  They needed to get  a deal done by “X” day to prevent a 2010 uncapped year.  They didn’t and then wasted the entire season that could have been used to negotiate.  Why?  There was no urgency to get it done.  The same thing will hold true until both sides start losing paychecks.

We will soon see how important this is to both sides.

In the meantime, a recent poll conducted by another media site asked if fans wanted a reduction of 2 pre-season games and the addition of 2 regular season games.  So I thought, why not as you!