NEW YORK — Significant progress on a major sticking point in the NFL labor impasse — soaring rookie salaries — during marathon talks Thursday raised hopes that a tentative agreement in principle could perhaps come within 24 hours, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
They cautioned, however, that other key issues remained for owners and players to resolve, including free agency and new offseason workout rules.
With time running short to keep the preseason intact, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith, eight owners and about a half-dozen current or former players met for a second consecutive day of lengthy negotiations — nearly 15 hours on Thursday alone. They were going to meet again at a Manhattan law firm today as they attempt to end the sport’s first work stoppage since 1987.
When the last of the participants left after 9:30 p.m. MDT on Thursday, Baltimore Ravens defensive back Domonique Foxworth noted that even after the framework for an agreement is established, “there’s really no deal until our players approve it.”
On rookie salaries, four people familiar with the talks said that first-round draft picks will sign four-year contracts with a club option for a fifth year. That represents a compromise; owners were hoping for five-year contracts, while players wanted highly drafted rookies to be under a team’s control for only four years.
NFL owners have long sought to restrict the huge bonuses and salaries paid to unproven rookies, particularly those selected at the top of the draft.
Footnote.
Steelers linebacker James Harrison apologized for using an anti-gay slur to refer to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in an interview with “Men’s Journal,” and says his critical statements about teammates were taken out of context in a post on his Twitter account.
