Contracts are guaranteed in the NBA, where even mediocre players are capable of landing mega-deals, leading some NFLers to publicly express displeasure with the fact that their league’s deals are non-guaranteed. While discussing that issue Wednesday, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman offered a possible solution, albeit a controversial one.
“If we want as the NFL, as a union, to get anything done, players have to be willing to strike,” Sherman told ESPN’s Jalen Rose. “That’s the thing that guys need to 100 percent realize. You’re going to have to miss games, you’re going to have to lose some money if you’re willing to make the point, because that’s how MLB and NBA got it done. They missed games, they struck, they flexed every bit of power they had, and it was awesome. It worked out for them.”
NFL players haven’t gone on strike since 1987, though there was a brief lockout in 2011. With the collective bargaining agreement the owners and players negotiated then set to expire after the 2020 season, more labor strife is seemingly brewing. Back in February, months before Sherman’s strike recommendation, union boss DeMaurice Smith shot down the possibility of extending the CBA, and the players hadn’t given him permission as of last month to begin talks with the league on a new agreement.
More from around the league:
- While Sherman and others aren’t thrilled with the league’s current financial setup, one player who has done well in the system is Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The Rams placed the franchise tag on Johnson both last year and this offseason, putting him in position to collect $30.672MM in guaranteed money from 2016-17. To hit Johnson with the franchise tag again next winter would cost the Rams an untenable $24.1MM, so he’ll reach the open market at the age of 28 and have an opportunity to cash in on a long-term contract.
- Thanks to the relocations of the Rams, Chargers and Raiders, the league’s other 29 teams will each receive a gross sum of $55.2MM over an 11-year span, reports Darren Rovell of ESPN. The two Los Angeles teams, the Rams and Chargers, will each pay a $645MM relocation fee from December 2019 to December 2028, while the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders will owe $378MM. They won’t have to begin paying until the year they actually move to Vegas.
- Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan is likely to open the season on the physically unable to perform list, suggests Chris Boden of CSN Chicago. Trevathan ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee last November, forcing him to sit out the Bears’ final five games of 2016, and he’ll miss their first six contests this year if he goes on the PUP list. The former Bronco is entering the second season of the four-year, $24.5MM pact he signed with Chicago in March 2016.