After arriving home Thursday from a marathon session with fellow NFL owners that resulted in labor peace, the Broncos’ Pat Bowlen was understandably wiped out.
“I’m tired,” Bowlen said upon returning from Dallas. “But it’s a good tired.”
Bowlen’s fatigue was tempered by the satisfaction that he and the rest of the NFL power brokers were able to avoid what other major sports haven’t in recent years: labor strife. Bowlen was a lead negotiator for the NFL in the talks that went on for months.
Late Wednesday, after two days of nonstop negotiations among the owners, the league agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement with the players union. The two sides agreed to a six-year extension.
More urgently, though, the extension paved the way for a smooth free-agency period – which begins tonight at 10:01 p.m MST – and avoids an uncapped year in 2007. If an extension wasn’t agreed upon, the NFL in 2008 could have faced its first work stoppage since 1987.
“Without boasting, we think we have the premier sports league in the world,” Bowlen said. “To stay that way, we couldn’t have a work stoppage. Fans didn’t deserve it. To stay the best, you can’t screw it up.”
Bowlen said he was satisfied with the details of the CBA, including revenue sharing. The Broncos are considered a high-revenue team; three- fourths of the teams are considered low-revenue teams.
Denver has that status despite being in the 20th-largest market in the 32-team league, mostly because of revenue generated by Invesco Field at Mile High, which has been in existence for five years.
“We think we’ll always be near the top, and that’s a tribute to our fans,” Bowlen said. “We’re all privileged to be in this business. As long as the fans want to watch football, it’s up to us to find a way to make sure there are no interruptions to the game.”
Meanwhile, the Broncos continue to negotiate with the agents of defensive tackle Gerard Warren and running back Ron Dayne, the team’s two remaining key free agents. The team is hopeful deals can be reached with both players before they hit the open market.
Warren’s negotiations will continue today. Talks with Dayne progressed Thursday and an extension could be finalized today.
Footnotes
There are no indications the Broncos will make immediate runs at re-signing veterans Trevor Pryce, Mike Anderson and Jeb Putzier, all of whom were cut last week. The team is expected to look at outside help first. The agents of the released players are willing to listen to the Broncos. Pryce has visited Cleveland, and Putzier is expected to start visiting teams next week. … Defensive end Courtney Brown, who redid the final four years of his contract this week to remain in Denver, will have a base salary of $745,000 in 2006 and received a signing bonus of $1.55 million.
Bill Williamson can be reached at 303-820-5450 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com.
