CBA Notes: Cap, TV Deals, IR, P-Squads

Work continues on the collective bargaining agreement, which has yet to be officially sent out for a vote. A potential goal of a ratification vote occurring by late next week exists, but Mark Maske of the Washington Post notes (via Twitter) this could spill into the second week of March. That will keep teams’ tag plans complicated. The tag window opened Thursday and will close March 12. Here is the latest on the CBA front:

  • The expectation of the 2020 salary cap coming in at around $200MM remains, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). However, the expanded playoffs and next round of TV deals are expected to increase the cap spikes considerably in the near future.
  • The TV contracts could well make an enormous impact on the game, with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk indicating the networks’ cash infusion will mean a $3.2 billion-per-year increase per team. Teams would then see an estimated $100MM in additional funds per year. While not all of that will go toward players, 48.5% of it will when the season expands to 17 games. The prospect of the cap climbing closer to $300MM by 2023 is in play. That would change the NFL’s financial landscape.
  • Under this CBA proposal, teams will be permitted to bring three players off injured reserve, per CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin. That is up from the current IR-return setup, which allows teams to bring two players off their injured lists annually. This marks a key change, as it was not long ago placing a player on IR meant his season was over.
  • While teams will be allowed 12 practice squad slots (up from 10) starting in 2020, that number increases to 14 in 2022, per Benjamin. This would create more jobs and potentially hurt the XFL’s talent base, though it’s obviously uncertain if the league will be in operation by then. Like the IR setup, the practice squad format has undergone a notable overhaul. Prior to 2014, teams could only carry eight players on taxi squads.
  • Rounding out the bullet points in the CBA proposal, teams cannot practice in pads for more than three straight days during training camp, per CBS.
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