The longest work stoppage in NFL history is officially over.  The owners and players can pat themselves on the back (they already did) for biting the bullet and signing a deal that will continue to make all of them very rich.  Must’ve been tough.  What I would really like to see is a “Yes We Did” type press conference with Clark Hunt, DeMaurice Smith, and Roger Goodell all trying to look über cool up on stage with fog machines and lasers.  This would be a great day for DeMaurice Smith, finally making it on stage after being beat out by Doctor Teeth as front man for Electric Mayhem.  They could have an entire hour long narcissistic show about their decision to ratify the new CBA as well (I love they used this term like it was the freaking Constitution on the United States).  It would include what thoughts were going through their mind, where their inspiration to sign the document came from, how they did all of this for the fans, what type of pen they used, what type of shoes they were wearing, how it’s all for sale on eBay…

If I am correct though, you all did not come here to read about the lockout though, right?  Screw the past four months.  Addicts, it is time to talk real football!

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Hey De Smith. You look like a muppet. Shut up and get a deal done.

The NFL lockout is still going strong despite recent reports of progress at the bargaining table.

ESPN is reporting that the latest round of super secret talks at an undisclosed location inside a secret bunker outside of Boston have wrapped up for the week. ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reports via an unnamed source that talks are heading in the “right direction.” Talks are expected to resume next week, though both sides are expected to continue working and hammering out details until that time.

Now that we got the good news out of the way, Pro Football Talk is reporting via an unnamed source (surprise) that NFLPA/Trade Association representative DeMaurice Smith told the players that a deal is not close and to “not believe the hype.”

Well damn.

First of all, and I am sympathetic to the players, Smith needs to shut the hell up. For a couple of weeks now, both sides have been talking and we have been getting nothing but positive reports that things were moving in the right direction. For the first time in a long time we haven’t had to hear either side taking shots at the other in public. We haven’t had to hear any pro union/player or pro owner spin campaigns.

Now, when it seems things might finally be happening, Smith has to go off and run his mouth. He knew damn well his “message” to players would leak out. I am not sure what his motive is but I can tell you his actions, if he did indeed do this, are not productive.

This is a tense situation and the last thing we need is one side or the other to start shooting off their mouth in a sly attempt to try to gain some leverage, whether it be in the negotiations or with the court of public opinion. While Smith’s words weren’t a direct shot at the owners, they were not helpful to the effort to keep the mood positive and the talks focused.

I’ve been very supportive of the players throughout this entire process. If the reports I have been hearing about the potential framework of the new CBA, the players are closer to getting a fair deal than they have been at any time throughout this process.

So please, DeMaurice Smith, shut the hell up.

The language in Nelson’s ruling is clear. She declares the lockout over. All day, players have been trying to enter their team facilities to workout and they have been having varying degrees of success. In most cases, players could enter the team facility but were denied access to the weight room. In some cases, players were refused entry completely.

The NFL appears to be somewhat reluctantly keeping to the status quo here. They don’t seem to want to make any moves until they get clarification from Nelson on what exactly her ruling means and if she will grant them a stay pending appeal.

The NFLP* doesn’t see it that way. They believe the language in Nelson’s ruling means the lockout is over right now and that the new league year has officially begun. In their eyes, any attempt by the NFL to not open for business would put them in contempt of court and any move to collectively refuse to negotiate or sign free agents would make them guilty of collusion.

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The NFLPA quickly realized that this was a terrible PR move. While I agree that it is silly for players to go on stage and hug Rodger Goodell, only to be immediately restricted from working or even signing a contract, I understand why folks don’t want the players to abandon the draft.

The NFL draft is immensely popular among fans and it is also something very special for the players who have worked so hard to reach the point where they are being selected at the very top.

To avoid the bad publicity but also to ensure that they have a way to welcome their new members into the fold, the NFLPA will hold an event for the players in NYC on draft weekend that will not directly conflict with the players getting to hear their name called at Radio City Music Hall.

Calling the event “The Debut” the NFLPA will hold a dinner for the invited players and their families at a hotel before the draft. They will also hold some events early in the day on Friday before the second round and a party after the draft on Friday night.

A couple of Chiefs players are reportedly going to be in attendance including WR Dwayne Bowe and union representative Mike “Eight-Pack” Vrabel.

The NFL reportedly gave the players one last offer this morning and that offer is being looked over. The players were supposed to get an update from union rep DeMaurice Smith at 2. Smith reportedly had a conference call but we do not know yet what is going on.

Basically we could be looking at:

1. Decertification/Lockout (decertification must happen by 5PM)
2. Extension of talks
3. A deal

Keep it here. We coul dfind something out any time.

Update: Tweet from Chris Mortenson of ESPN:(2:39 EST)

mortreport Chris Mortensen
DeMaurice Smith proceeded with his update @ 2 w players via conferencing. Owners’ team hopeful talks continue after their proposal today.

The labor extension agreed upon by the NFL and the NFLPA will come to an end tomorrow night and if an agreement is not reached by around midday Friday, chaos will begin to ensue.

NFLPA executive director Demaurice Smith took to Twitter this evening with a message for the players.

“Players stay strong! Stay informed, update by 2pm tomorrow.”

What does it all mean?

Well in short, if an agreement is no reached by tomorrow afternoon then both parties will have some big decisions to make. If the sides reach a stalemate, they will likely break off talks to plan their next move. The NFL will make the final decision on whether or not they are going to try to lock the players out while the union will decide whether or not to decertify. The union must decertify before the end of the labor agreement so that is why Smith is promising to give an update to the players by 2 PM (EST). Without a deal, the union will fire an antitrust lawsuit against the league and a whole mess of boring legal stuff that nobody wants to know about will ensue.
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Yesterday Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported that the NFL and the NFLPA had agreed on the basic terms of a new rookie wage scale. Cole sited two unnamed sources to backup his report.

Good news, right? Not so fast.

Later in the day, a couple more reports popped up claiming that no deal had been reached. The guys at Pro Football Talk reached out to Cole via email and they report that Cole is standing by his claim.

Whether or not a deal for a rookie wage scale has been agreed upon at this point is kind of irrelevant. A deal on a wage scale will be reached because it will benefit both the owners and the players in the long run. Teams won’t be stuck paying draft busts for years after it becomes apparent that they are flops and for the players, more money will go to proven veterans.

On another front, we got word from NFLPA rep DeMaurice Smith that the union will be saying no to an 18-game schedule. Smith spoke yesterday from the union’s Washington offices in an event jointly scheduled with 106.7 the Fan.

“First of all, the league has never presented a formal proposal for 18 games,” Smith said.  “But more importantly, it’s something that our players don’t want.  Eighteen games is not in the best interest of our players’ safety, so we’re not doing it.”

Pretty cut and dry, eh?

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It wasn’t long ago that Dustin Colquitt was the best player on the Kansas City Chiefs.

For those of you reading a website called Arrowhead Addict who are not Chiefs fans, Colquitt is the punter.

Now that the good old days of Herman Edwards’ run, run, pass, pun offense are behind him, Colquitt is struggling to find ways to remain relevant.  That might be why he took some time recently to talk about the NFL labor negotiations.

We haven’t really heard much from the Chiefs’ players on the negotiations since the end of the season. We know that Mike Vrabel and Brian Waters are a big part of the union leadership and have been representing the players in meetings with the league but even those players haven’t been talking too much publically.

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Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney is joining Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and New York Giants owner John Mara in the mediated negotiations between the NFL and the NFLPA. Hunt and Mara joined the fray yesterday.

It looks like the NFL is going old school here, relying on the decedents of some of it’s most historical ownership families to help bring home a deal.

Unfortunately, the buzz is that the two sides are still pretty far apart. We told you yesterday that the NFLPA hired a firm to review any financial information released to them by the league. We speculated that this was a good sign because the players have been asking to see the books for a long time now. It appeared to represent a concession on the part of the league.

As it turns out, various reports are indicating that while the league is prepared to release some of their financial information, they aren’t planning to release all of it. The players reportedly aren’t thrilled with that option. They don’t want to back down until the owners show them the money.

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Multiple outlets are reporting that the union has hired International Investment Bank to review any financial information released to them by the NFL.

In my opinion this is a very, very good sign. Part of the reason this whole mess started was because the NFL wanted the players to take less money and the players have been asking for financial transparency so that they could determine if the league’s request to take a pay cut would be fair. To this point the league has refused.

It now looks like they are going to play ball. This is likely because of the recent ruling made by Judge David Dotty. Dotty ruled in favor of the players in a dispute over whether the NFL could collect money from the TV networks even in the event of a lockout. Until that point, the owners had the advantage because they could lock the players out and still pay the rent, so to speak.

That is all over now. Ever since the ruling the negotiations have been going much better and the players are now in a position of power. The NFL wants to avoid having this matter go to the courts and that is exactly what will happen if they try to lock out the players. If the players smell a lockout coming, they’ll decertify and off to the courts we go.

The fact that the NFL appears to be about to share financial information with the players means an agreement could be right around the corner. It also represents a huge concession by the owners which they will expect the players to return in kind.

The current deadline is this Friday. I don’t know that an agreement could be reached by then but another extension could be on the way. Stay tuned.

Fellow Addicts and Chiefs fans, I know that we are all tired of hearing about the labor negotiations, but with the impending lockout to start tomorrow (unless I have missed something and it’s now resolved while I write this post in which case I will look awful silly, which I’m cool with) I felt that I had to talk about it in some form.  Many of us have mentioned writing letters to Clark Hunt as fans and sending them to 1 Arrowhead Drive, and I have to say I was tempted myself.  I think I will abstain from this round.  The reason why?

Go ahead and try to get a hold Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt’s office tomorrow if/when the lockout starts.  If I had to guess he will not be there.  He could be at negotiations, he could be trying to get something resolved, but I’d rather be pessimistic and insulting.  So, I think you would get an auto-reply that would go something like this:

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Worried about the impending NFL lockout between the owners and NFLPA?  Scared that in the event of a strike and no football season you may not know what to do?  Don’t worry!  Your friends here at Arrowhead Addict have got you covered.  Since AA first received word of the possibility of no Chiefs season they hired a crack team of specialists to break down the bare essentials that every Chiefs fan will need in case of emergency, and that plan has fortunately now been shared with someone not to be trusted.

Me.

We know with all of the buzz going around that you may be freaking out a little wondering what your Sunday’s will be like without the Chiefs live chat, so phase one of the plan is that there will be a live Madden simulation broadcast of every game on the Chiefs schedule for next year.  These simulations will take place during normally scheduled times to help prolong the willing suspension of disbelief amongst you Addicts out there, and to ensure that they feel more real the games will not be 100% computer driven.  Adam will call the Audibles.  These broadcasts (from a URL to be determined) will be accompanied by live chats online hosted with a little Magic by Merlin*, complete with follow up Big Matt’s Chiefs Chat articles on Mondays blasting personnel decisions made by virtual Todd Haley during game simulations.  To help add to the realism, there will also be simulated DVOA breakdowns by Double D on Wednesdays supporting the anti-virtual Todd Haley movement.

*Person participating in Madden simulation live chat may not actually be Merlin

But wait, there’s more…

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