Kovacevic: NFL's rank-and-file lesson for all taken in the Strip District (DK'S GRIND)

Bud Dupree. - GETTY

DK'S GRIND

Kovacevic: NFL's rank-and-file lesson for all

By Dejan Kovacevic

Mar 15, 2020 • 8:46 pm

5.5K
eye
0comment-bubble

There'll be days and days to digest all the details of the NFL's new labor agreement, one that assures peace for the next decade while also accepting significant change.

But hey, take it from the guy who's wasted away his weekend on 'A Football Life' reruns, we'll have those days and days to do all that.

What I love most about this agreement, ratified Saturday and announced this Sunday morning, is the dynamic, arguably diabolical approach that Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith and all involved took toward getting it done: They blew right by Aaron Rodgers, J.J. Watt, Russell Wilson and, yeah, Maurkice Pouncey, and all the other stars with the eight-figure contracts and, instead, went right to the rank-and-file.

I won't profess to being some sports labor historian, but if that's happened before in my lifetime, I don't recall it.

The final vote among all active NFL players was 1,019 to 959, with the yays claiming 51.5 percent. And among the 32 teams' individual player reps, the yays won, 17-14-1. If this were a political election, they'd be demanding recounts and scouring boxes for dangling chads. That's how close it was, which was what most experts, including our Dale Lolley, had anticipated all along.

That in and of itself will be fascinating to watch play out, as Smith now oversees a deeply divided union -- an oxymoron if one ever existed -- and it might well cost him his post. Even though the union's executive committee initially rejected the agreement, 6-5, and it was the player reps' 17-14-1 vote that sent it out for a full vote, the head at the top will always be uneasiest.

Reactions will be emotional.

But you know who wasn't reacting that way? Or at all?

Right, the players who inched it over the line. The ones who barely have any social media followers in the first place.

See, here's the thing: Ben Roethlisberger earns $34 million, or 67 times more than some special-teams dude in the same locker room. And that's fine. That's as it should be. If 2019 taught us anything, it's that there's no chance if there's no Ben. And yet, in the same setting, Ben's got one vote, and special-teams dude has one vote. They're absolute equals.

So one on side of this at the outset is Goodell, eager to add a 17th regular-season game and expand the playoffs, with the owners behind him. And here are Smith and the union's executive committee, leery of that, in large part because of the loudest voices:

The cases made the loudest and longest were all the usual: Allow guaranteed contracts. Ditch the franchise and transition tags. More free-agency rights. All stuff that affected those with the highest profiles and heftiest paychecks.

But here are the five cases, as I see it, that actually won the day:

• More money. How to split the revenue pie is instrumental in any sports labor agreement, and the owners increasing the players' take from 47 percent to 48.5 percent was a good beginning. Bear in mind, it's a $16 billion pie, projected to be as much as $25 billion by 2027.

• More actual pay. Minimum wage went up from $510,000 to $610,000, and rookie pay went up by $100,000 across the board.

• More jobs. Rosters will increase from 53 players to 55, and practice squads will expand from 10 to 14. Both were necessary, really, given the extra game, but they meant more to the rank-and-file, obviously, than to anyone else.

• More benefits. Lots. Including making it easier to be eligible for the NFL's excellent lifelong programs.

• More for alumni. No, this doesn't garner votes directly. Alumni don't vote. But the league's 'unprecedented' package, as union president CJ Tretter called it, of increased pensions and other elements targeted former players, and that applies additional pressure on the yays, if only to do right by those who came before them.

I'm not about to pretend, though, that the money wasn't the pivotal play. The Steelers' players, for example, can admire Pouncey all they want -- and they do -- but when it comes down to the NFL's average career being 2.5 years, and when most of the men in that locker room fall much closer to the minimum category than to Pouncey's, they're not going to worry about him when casting their private ballot.

Neither would you or I, right?

Again, all the kudos to all concerned. And to take that further, I've never understood why other leagues -- heck, the NFL itself -- never took this approach. All the fuss is always over those at the very top of the structure, and all that's needed is however many votes are required for ratification. So appeal to those who'd benefit the most on a mass scale, and get it done.

Imagine if the NHL had taken this approach through Gary Bettman's many labor misadventures rather than wrangling endlessly over maximum individual salaries.

Imagine if Major League Baseball ... wow, imagine if baseball ever did anything but kowtowing to the biggest-spending teams and the highest-paid players.

The template's in place.

• At some point very soon, likely on this Sunday, the NFL will announce whether it'll delay the start of its league year, meaning free agency and the like. Man, here's hoping that doesn't happen. Sports fans could use just about any semblance of normalcy right now, and there's literally nothing about the process that requires doing anything in person.

• The salary cap's now official at $198.2 million, a little lower than some had expected a week ago but still enough of an increase that the Steelers could have $13 million or so in space with various moves, as Dale outlines. But sorry, I'm still not going above and beyond to pay Javon Hargrave the eight-digit salary he might command as a top nose tackle. This defensive line is still exceptional without him, with all due respect.

• Bud Dupree will get tagged. That's OK, too. I've thought more of him than most for a long time, but I'll also acknowledge Dupree had one season of big-time results. If there's any move toward locking up anyone in the long term, let T.J. Watt take all the truckloads of such cash when his time comes.

• A 17th game is ... meh, but I love the expanded playoffs. No, not because the Steelers would've made it the past two seasons, but because 14 of 32 is a fair ratio compared to other sports, because it'll still bring mostly good teams into the pool (although heaven help us if there's more AFC East representation), and because it'll make fans happy.

***premium***

• More realistic word has surfaced this weekend that MLB's now eyeing May toward opening the 2020 season, this after Rob Manfred and MLBPA chief Tony Clark met to discuss the countless contingencies. We'll see what that means, but operating with legitimate parameters should be a prerequisite.

Next step: Agree to shorten the regular season dramatically.

• The Pirates put out a vital update to media Saturday night that roughly 40 big-league players, plus coaches, will stay in Bradenton, Fla., to use facilities, beginning with a light workout Monday. On Sunday, they'll professionally sanitize/deep clean all facilities at LECOM Park for a second time.

What's that mean?

Couple things:

1. Baseball's different.

Pitchers require nearly two months to have their arms primed for opening day, and it'd be asking far too much for them to maintain that conditioning in uncontrolled settings. That setting's as controlled as it gets, both from the baseball and the health perspectives, regardless of when the real games get going again. So having that sizable a portion of the roster -- all but a couple guys, really -- hanging around is encouraging in a lot of ways.

2. Communication's good.

I'll repeat from Saturday that the communication from the Pirates is appreciated, between this and a conference call that's expected to take place this weekend with Ben Cherington. They respect that reporters have jobs to do and, infinitely more important, they respect that their fans want to know what's happening with their favorite team and players in this extraordinary time.

• Comparatively, there's been absolutely zero word from the Penguins. From anyone. On anything. Not a peep beyond two bland corporate-speak press releases a couple days ago.

• This is how it's done:

Even the Flyers, in their own inimitable way, attempted to inspire:

Not the local team. Nothing.

It's depressing how drastically this has changed in recent years. The Penguins used to be leaders in these things.

• The best quotes in hockey have long come from the brain of Paul Maurice, head coach in Winnipeg, and this among his most compelling: "I want undistracted hockey with fans in the building. That’s what I like. I might not be able to get all of that, but we all want a healthy, positive outcome for everybody. Short of that, we want everyone safe. But you’d like to go into games feeling that hockey is the most important thing for you day that day. If it becomes short of that, we’ll do what we’re told."

• Speaking of eloquent communicators:

Roll Pat McAfee in the same bubble-wrap we're using on Betty White.

Show Comments
Loading...
Loading...
0
Show comments for this article