Remember those talks between the NFL Players Association and league that were centered around commissioner Roger Goodell losing his power to discipline players for off-the-field incidents? Yeah, they don’t appear to be going too well.
Both the league and NFLPA traded jabs through the media Wednesday, beginning with Goodell at the NFL Annual Meeting.
“We are not close to an agreement by any stretch of the imagination on any changes to that as it relates to third party or other individuals making those decisions,” Goodell said, via The Boston Globe. “But we are open to them. We’ll continue to have that dialogue directly with the union.”
Later that night, ESPN’s Jim Trotter obtained an email from NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, who didn’t appear very hopeful about a deal.
“When I briefed you on the status of negations with the NFL regarding the Personal Conduct Policy (the PCP) at our annual meetings, I shared with you the understanding I had with Roger as to our progress and positions,” Smith said in the email, via ESPN. “However, after our annual meetings had concluded, the NFL officially communicated a dramatic change of course. … In short, unfortunately, it’s a massive step backwards from where negotiations stood several weeks ago.”
Smith also claims in his email that the league insists “neutral arbitration is NOT a part of this negotiation,” that the NFL has gone back on a “tentative approval” to include three former judges on an arbitration panel and that the league wants to maintain the Commissioner Exempt List.
The NFL didn’t take long to respond, though, as league spokesman Brian McCarthy told ProFootballTalk the NFLPA is trying “to create a false public impression of our discussions.”
Can’t we all just get along?
Thumbnail photo Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
