NFL Players Association - Pro Football Rumors

Extra Points: Browns, Hoyer, NFLPA, L.A.

February 11th, 2015 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Executives from rival teams are beginning to complain about the fact that Kevin O’Connell, who is on track to become the Browns‘ new quarterbacks coach, continues to work with Marcus Mariota to help him prepare for the draft, amidst rumors that Cleveland is contemplating trading up to draft a QB.

“So let me get this straight,” said one high-level team executive on another team, to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “The Browns can have their quarterbacks coach in waiting work with a player, teach him the entire offense, etc., but we can’t even talk to any potential draft pick until the combine per league rules? Something is wrong here.”

As Florio notes, the Browns may not technically be violating any rules, since they haven’t officially announced O’Connell as their QBs coach yet, but considering Cleveland is currently under investigation for another rules violation (“Textgate“), the team may want to tread carefully.

Let’s check in on a few more odds and ends from around the NFL:

Speaking of the Browns‘ quarterback situation, prospective free agent Brian Hoyer told SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link) that while it’s possible he’ll return to Cleveland, the city he grew up in, he also has do what’s best for himself this offseason. With that said, Hoyer is confident that he could become the Browns‘ starting quarterback again if he stayed with the club. “I did it once [before],” Hoyer said (Twitter link).
Three notable quarterbacks from the class of 2004 – Eli Manning (Giants), Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers), and Philip Rivers (Chargers) – are headed into the final year of their respective contracts. As Jordan Raanan of NJ.com details, contract extensions for the trio won’t come cheaply even as the three players enter their mid-30s, with the price tags likely to be in the neighborhood of $20MM annually.
The battle to become the new NFLPA executive director is becoming a crowded field, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report. Cole reports (via Twitter) that, in addition to incumbent union leader DeMaurice Smith, at least three other candidates – Jim Acho, Sean Gilbert, and John Stufflebeem – will run for the position, while two others are considering entering the mix.
The NFLPA Committee on Agent Regulation and Discipline (CARD) announced that agent Vincent Porter has been suspended after he was arrested for wire fraud. Porter was the agent for Giants linebacker Devon Kennard and previously worked with Seahawks tailback Christine Michael and Patriots running back Jonas Gray as well.
Bryce Johnston of Over The Cap puts his concept of “expected contract value” to the test by using it to break down recent contracts signed by top centers Ryan Kalil (Panthers), Alex Mack (Browns), and Maurkice Pouncey (Steelers).
Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson is interested in becoming involved in efforts to get an NFL franchise to Los Angeles, as he tells Jarrett Bell of USA Today Sports.

Extra Points: NFLPA, Mayo, Van Pelt, Raiders

January 23rd, 2015 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The NFL Players Association has formally filed a grievance against the league challenging the NFL’s new personal conduct policy, which was adopted in December despite the NFLPA’s objections, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. The union contends that it didn’t have an opportunity to collectively bargain many key points of the new policy, arguing that the policy violates the CBA and that it was adopted “without the consent, and over the objections, of the NFLPA.”

While we wait to see what comes of the union’s grievance, let’s round up several items from across the NFL….

Injured Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo has been prioritizing his rehabilitation after a season-ending knee injury, and fully intends to get back on the field in 2015, but he has also developed an interest in coaching during his time spent on injured reserve, writes Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. “I’m just trying to learn as much as I can,” Mayo said. “If I do choose to go down that road, hopefully I can apply some of these principles that I’ve learned from coach [Bill] Belichick in my coaching career.”
While a previous report revealed the Packers turned down the Rams’ request to speak to Alex Van Pelt about their offensive coordinator job, St. Louis wasn’t the only team rebuffed by Green Bay. According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), the Jaguars and Bears were also denied permission to interview Van Pelt.
The Raiders have officially confirmed a handful of new additions to Jack Del Rio’s staff, announcing in a press release that they’ve hired Todd Downing (QB coach), Marcus Robertson (DB coach), Sal Sunseri (LB coach), and Mike Tice (OL coach).
The Jets also announced several new assistants in addition to their new coordinators. According to the team, Mike Caldwell (assistant HC/ILB coach), Mark Collins (OLB coach), Joe Danna (DB/S coach), and Karl Dorrell (WR coach) are among the new arrivals.
Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey isn’t phased by the fact that 2015 could be a make-or-break season for him and head coach Joe Philbin, suggesting that he approaches every season as if it’s make-or-break, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
The Texans have made some front office changes, promoting Jon Carr to director of college scouting and hiring Matt Jansen to the new position of college scouting coordinator, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links).
We learned yesterday that Kansas State wide receiver Tyler Lockett met with the Dolphins at the Senior Bowl, but Miami is far from the only team to interview Lockett. The wideout, who is generating plenty of buzz in Mobile, tells James Walker of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he spoke to 28 NFL teams this week.

Extra Points: Peterson, Kiffin, Draft, Jets

January 16th, 2015 at 10:28pm CST by Dallas Robinson

In a 35-page document filed Friday, the NFL asked a federal court to throw out the NFLPA’s petition to have Vikings running back Adrian Peterson‘s suspension overturned, writes Dave Campbell of the Associated Press. Citing labor law, the league argues that there is no reason to “re-litigate all of the decisions” made by arbitrator Harold Henderson on December 12. The trial is scheduled for February 6, while Peterson is currently suspended through at least April 15. Let’s look at some more notes from around the NFL…

We heard earlier today that Mike Shanahan could be “in play” for the 49ers offensive coordinator job, and now another interesting candidate has emerged. A league source tells Cam Inman of the Mercury News that Lane Kiffin could be interested in returning to the NFL, and posits San Francisco as a possible destination. Kiffin, the OC at Alabama, was the Raiders head coach from 2007-08.
86 underclassmen have declared for this year’s draft, a 20% decrease from 2014, tweets Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive director of football operations. Those declaring have until Monday to withdrawal and reclaim their eligibility.
Following the news that Jets director of college scouting (and former GM) Terry Bradway was fired, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com looks back the executives many missteps during his time leading Gang Green. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News takes a different tack (Twitter links), noting that Bradway heavily pushed to draft Darrelle Revis, and wanted to select Russell Wilson.
USA Today examines how each of the four remaining playoff teams were built, noting that each club contains forward-thinking personnel men, strong drafting decisions, and top-notch quarterbacks.

NFLPA Files Lawsuit On Behalf Of Peterson

December 15th, 2014 at 9:25am CST by Luke Adams

9:25am: The NFLPA has publicly posted its 75-page petition on behalf of Peterson, in PDF form.

8:48am: The NFL Players Association has formally filed a lawsuit challenging arbitrator Harold Henderson‘s ruling on Adrian Peterson‘s suspension in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, reports Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The suit from the union had been expected since the moment Henderson issued his ruling upholding Peterson’s suspension on Friday.

Under the terms of Peterson’s suspension, the Vikings running back will be forced to miss the rest of the 2014 season, and won’t be considered for reinstatement until at least April 15. Since NFL free agency begins in March, being reinstated in April or later would significantly affect Peterson’s ability to find work, if the Vikings decide to part ways with him. Of course, there’s no guarantee that he’ll hit the open market, but Minnesota will likely only bring back the former MVP if the two sides can work out a new contract that reduces Peterson’s cap hit.

The lawsuit filed on Peterson’s behalf by the NFLPA is expected to contend that Henderson was not truly a neutral arbitrator, having previously worked for the league. A recording – obtained by ABC News – of NFL executive Troy Vincent allegedly assuring Peterson that he’ll only be suspended for two games will also likely play a part in the suit.

Following Henderson’s announcement on Friday, we learned that Peterson had considered the possibility of retiring, but given his apparent willingness to engage in a legal battle to overturn his suspension, it doesn’t appear he’s leaning that way at the moment.

Extra Points: Bears, Stanton, Draft, Conduct

December 12th, 2014 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Last week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported that the Bears are having serious doubts about Jay Cutler going forward. In a bizarre twist, offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer confessed to the team that he was the anonymous source for parts of the report and apologized for his actions, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. One source said that Cutler shook his head during Kromer’s apology and two players that spoke with Biggs were stunned by what they had witnessed. Head coach Marc Trestman, Kromer, and others on the staff could be on the hot seat this offseason.

Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton has been diagnosed with a sprained ACL and MCL, according to Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 in Arizona (Twitter link). As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, the injury isn’t expected to end the 2014 season for Standon, who is considered week to week. That’s good news for the Cards, who will hope to have the QB back in time for their first playoff game.
Three NCAA underclassmen – Tulane cornerback Lorenzo Doss (Twitter link), Syracuse safety Durell Eskridge (Instagram link), and Virginia defensive end Eli Harold (Twitter link) – announced via social media this week that they’ll leave school early to enter the 2015 NFL draft.
The NFLPA and its leaders may not like the league’s new, more “robust” conduct policy, but they only have themselves to blame for ceding so much power to Roger Goodell and the NFL, writes Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.
Giants co-owner John Mara tells Jenny Vrentas of TheMMQB.com that the new conduct policy is “a step in the right direction” for the NFL, and also answered questions regarding the Ray Rice case and the pending Robert Mueller report.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Extra Points: Conduct Policy, L.A., Playoffs

December 10th, 2014 at 10:30pm CST by Ben Levine

The NFL owners approved a new conduct policy earlier today, but there are still plenty of question marks surrounding the guidelines. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com explains, many players and owners are questioning the specifics of the “paid-leave” protocol.

Most players have incentive bonuses/escalators built into their contracts, but that portion of money would be impossible to earn if a player is suspended. As Florio writes, many of these bonuses are based on playing time or compiled stats, and a player won’t be able to reach any of those milestones if he’s sitting at home.

Meanwhile, Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo tweets that there’s also concern from the owner’s side, as the check-writers don’t want to be paying money for zero production. Furthermore, the teams currently get no cap relief for their suspended player, which is an added concern of the owners.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello briefly spoke about the issue with Florio:

“That is the type of issue we would be prepared to discuss with the union if the union were interested in engaging in discussions. They had no interest in discussing anything at the last meeting.”

Let’s check out some more notes from around the league as we wrap up this Wednesday night…

Garafolo tweets a remark from commissioner Roger Goodell, who says there’s been “progress” on a Los Angeles franchise, but nothing’s “imminent.” “We continue to work to see if there’s a solution,” Goodell said.
The owners will not discuss playoff expansion during this week’s meeting, but PFT’s Michael David Smith writes that Goodell plans on addressing the subject during March’s gathering. The league is reportedly interested in adding a seventh team from each conference.

NFL Owners Approve New Conduct Policy

December 10th, 2014 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

1:33pm: The NFLPA has released a statement on the newly-approved policy, and the union predictably doesn’t sound happy about the league’s announcement. Here’s the statement, in full:

“Our union has not been offered the professional courtesy of seeing the NFL’s new personal conduct policy before it hit the presses. Their unilateral decision and conduct today is the only thing that has been consistent over the past few months.”

12:59pm: The league has issued a formal press release, touches on a few new details of the policy, and laying out how the investigative and disciplinary processes will play out in the event of a potential violation of the conduct policy.

For the initial discipline, the NFL will appoint “a highly qualified league office executive with a criminal justice background.” Goodell will handle appeals of suspensions. Additionally, a committee headed by Cardinals owner Michael Bidwil will review the conduct policy annually and recommend appropriate changes, with the help of outside experts.

12:29pm: After announcing earlier this season that he wanted to have a new personal conduct policy in place before the Super Bowl, commissioner Roger Goodell has beaten his self-imposed deadline by more than a month and a half. Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal and Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter links) report that NFL owners voted today in Dallas on a new policy, approving the proposal. According to Breer (via Twitter), the proposed conduct policy was voted through unanimously.

As we noted this morning, the NFL Players Association was upset at not having been more involved in the creation of the new personal conduct policy, and the two sides had not reached common ground on a number of issues, so it will be interesting to see what the approved proposal looks like.

Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links) have some early details, writing that some of the points of emphasis in the policy include prompt reporting of incidents, paid leave for those facing charges, and independent investigations of incidents (rather than relying on police investigations). Garafalo adds (via Twitter) that Goodell’s role under the new policy will be as an appeals officer only — a newly-created special counsel will oversee initial disciplinary rulings.

While some of those aspects of the policy should be good news for the NFLPA, the union intends to immediately study the new policy in search of provisions and topics that would be mandatory subjects of collective bargaining, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote earlier today. According to Florio, if there are terms in the policy that require collective bargaining, the NFLPA will file a “system arbitration” proceeding under the labor deal or initiate an action with the National Labor Relations Board, or both.

In other words, while the league’s owners may have unanimously approved the league’s proposal, the issue likely won’t be put to rest immediately. We’ll await further details on the intricacies of the policy and the union’s reaction.

Latest On NFL Personal Conduct Policy

December 10th, 2014 at 8:51am CST by Luke Adams

The latest round of NFL owner meetings are set to take place today in Dallas, and one of the main topics on the agenda will be the creation and implementation of a new personal conduct policy for the league. While some reports have suggested that the NFL won’t be ready to vote on the proposal quite yet, Peter King of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link) hears that the league could push for the adoption of the new policy today.

The league appears to be moving forward with the new policy despite objections from the NFL Players Association. NFLPA president Eric Winston called recent meetings between the two sides a “farce,” claiming that the league had already finalized its policy before meeting with the union, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports.

The NFL fired back by listing several objections to the NFLPA’s proposed policy, and many of those points of contention center around whether or not players should be punished in certain scenarios. Those scenarios include: after acquittal or when charges are dropped; when players are accused or convicted of misdemeanors (rather than felonies); and when the legal process is still playing out.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links), the issue of paid leave when a player has been charged with a felony is still up for discussion. Additionally, commissioner Roger Goodell is willing to remove himself from the initial discipline process, creating a new special council for investigations and conduct. Despite that concession, the NFLPA is unlikely to be happy if a new policy is approved by owners today without any collective bargaining, so we’ll have to wait and see whether a vote actually takes place.

Latest On NFL Personal Conduct Policy

December 8th, 2014 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

After dealing with high-profile off-field incidents involving running backs Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson this year, commissioner Roger Goodell indicated earlier in the season that the league intended to have a new personal conduct policy in place by the Super Bowl. However, a league source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com that a new policy isn’t as close to being finalized as had been hoped, and that the new policy may not be adopted until the new league year begins in March.

The NFL’s owners are meeting this Wednesday, and there was a belief that a new personal conduct policy would be reviewed and potentially voted on at that point. That’s what the NFL Players Association is expecting, according to union executive George Atallah, though he points out that there hasn’t been any collective bargaining since the NFLPA last met with the league in November about the issue (Twitter links). The NFLPA submitted a proposal to the NFL last month, but there’s been no indication of how seriously the league will weigh the union’s suggestions.

According to Albert Breer of NFL.com (via Twitter), the league at least has the outline of a new personal conduct policy ready to present to owners in Dallas this week. However, in a second tweet, Breer cautions that a vote won’t necessarily happen this week, and the proposal could still be reworked.

Among the points of contention for a new policy are Goodell’s role in the disciplinary process and how players will be disciplined during the legal process when they’ve been charged but not necessarily convicted.

Extra Points: Peterson, Rice, Bears, Cowboys

December 5th, 2014 at 10:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson

As of this morning, the NFL had not offered a settlement proposal to embattled Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today, who also confirms Peter King of Sports Illustrated’s earlier report that a ruling in Peterson’s appeal case could come next week. Arbitrator Harold Henderson has encouraged the two parties to reach an agreement that would preclude the need for him to issue a formal decision, but it sounds like that hasn’t happened yet. Here’s more from around the league…

More from Pelissero, who tweets the league and the union are working to schedule the grievance hearing between Ray Rice and the Ravens. Rice, of course, already won his reinstatement to the NFL after appealing his suspension. Succeeding against the Ravens would entitle him to roughly $3.5MM in lost salary.
After suffering a 41-28 loss at the hands of the Cowboys on Thursday night, Bears head coach Marc Trestman told reporters, including Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com, that the club won’t make any coaching changes at this time. Trestman mad a similar declaration in November after the Bears were dominated by the Packers. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker is taking the brunt of the criticism in Chicago, as his defense ranks dead last in point per game allowed and 27th in DVOA.
The Cowboys will be up against the cap again in 2015 — currently, they have just over $1.2MM available in cap space for next season. As Rick Gosselin of the the Dallas Morning News writes, the club has several decisions to make regarding its offensive stars — namely Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray — but it will need cap relief in order to fix its defense. Dallas’ only impact defender, per Gosselin, is linebacker Rolando McClain, also a free agent this offseason. I would guess that Jerry Jones & Co. will attempt to restructure Tony Romo‘s contract in order to create the cap room needed to retain at least a few free agents.
Amid reports of turmoil along the Jets’ coaching staff, Rex Ryan denied that he considered firing offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. As Smith writes, the point is probably moot, as Ryan and the rest of the coaching staff will likely be let go at the end of the season.

NFL Players Association News & Rumors