NFLPA Player Reps Approve Drug Policy
10:17pm: While the player reps voted to move forward with the new drug policy, the fact that there’s still no official deal means teams are being informed that suspended players are unlikely to be reinstated in time for this weekend’s games, tweets Rapoport.
8:13pm: “We have not yet reached an agreement with the union. There continue to be significant unresolved issues,” a league spokesperson tells Mortensen (Twitter link).
8:02pm: Just because the player reps gave the go-ahead for the NFLPA to finalize an agreement with the NFL doesn’t mean it’s official yet. As Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com tweets, there are still some “unresolved issues” to hammer out, perhaps including the reinstatement of suspended players for this weekend.
6:20pm: The 32 team player reps for the NFLPA voted today to approve the new drug policy proposed by the NFL, which will include HGH testing, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). The yes vote from the player reps allows NFLPA leadership to assent to the changes proposed to the policy by the league, tweets Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported (via Twitter) earlier this evening that the player reps were having a “heated discussion” about the league’s proposal, with no guarantee that it would pass. However, when the vote was taken, the player reps were in unanimous approval, tweets Rapoport.
“This is an historic moment for our Players and our League,” said NFLPA President Eric Winston in a statement. “We have collectively bargained drug policies that will keep the game clean and safe, but also provide our players with an unprecedented level of fairness and transparency. Players should be proud of their union for standing up for what was best for the game.”
The new agreement should allow certain suspended players, such as Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick, to play as soon as this Sunday. Josh Gordon‘s year-long suspension will reportedly be reduced to 10 games under the new policy.
Here are the key modifications being introduced in the new policy, according to the NFLPA’s statement:
New Drug Policy Likely To Be Passed Tomorrow
11:09pm: Rapoport and Breer published a joint post on NFL.com, reporting that the policy will likely be voted on and passed tomorrow. The league agreed to drop its request of a mandatory one-game suspension for DUI arrest, but there will be two-game suspensions for DUI convictions. Additionally, the THC threshold is expected to move from 15 nanograms/milliliter to 35 ng/ml, which is still less than the standards of MLB (50 ng/ml) or the Olympics (150 ng/ml).
9:40pm: While Rapoport says (on Twitter) that the it’s “no sure thing” that the policy passes tomorrow, Breer tweets the the union received a fresh proposal from the league tonight, and it looks like the new deal will go through. Additionally, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report notes (Twitter link) that though the THC threshold will be increased in the agreement, it won’t be upped to Olympic levels, as many players are opposed to such a notion.
8:30pm: Breer tweets he’s been told repeatedly that the NFLPA will not vote on a proposal without knowing that it will “pass overwhelmingly,” which indicates that the union’s vote tomorrow will result in a new policy being ratified.
8:13pm: The union has scheduled a vote on the new policy for tomorrow afternoon, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Players suspended for amphetamine use – such as Welker, Scandrick, and Dion Jordan – would be reinstated under the agreement (link).
7:28pm: A source close to the negotiations tells Dan Graziano of ESPN.com that the players could vote on the new policy as early as Friday. The new deal could result in an instant reistatement for Wes Welker a reduction of Gordon’s suspension to something in the range of 6-10 games. There are other key changes to the drug policy being discussed, including the handling of HGH testing.
4:23pm: The two sides are circling around a few remaining issues with the policy and are trading proposals, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (on Twitter). He doubts there will be anything approved by the players tonight, however. Major hurdles have been cleared in the discussions, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network.
3:00pm: Both the NFL and NFLPA are hoping to finalize a new drug policy tonight in which the suspensions will wind up being overturned, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
2:26pm: The NFLPA told its union representatives to be on standby for a potential vote on a new global drug policy, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. As we’ve heard before, reinstatement for some suspended players is also on table in the talks.
However, the Josh Gordon case remains tricky since his failed test took place before new league year, which is when the grandfathering of the new rules would begin (link). The new league year officially began on March 11, 2014 and the Browns wide receiver flunked his test prior to that date. Others like Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick, however, could be back in action rather quickly since their positive tests took place in the 2014 league year. The NFLPA has previously said that they would want players who are serving drug suspensions back on the field under the new rules.
Yesterday we heard that there has been significant positive movement toward an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA on a new drug policy, though the league dragged their feet on a new proposal. There was major skepticism yesterday that anything could get done in time for the suspended players to get reinstated for Sunday and from the outside it still sounds unlikely. One might speculate that the ongoing Ray Rice scandal has thrown a wrench into the progress of the drug policy talks.
Latest On Drug Policy Talks
7:08pm: The NFLPA hasn’t received the league’s response to the latest edits on the drug policy, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. With a game tomorrow, a vote amongst team reps is now unlikely before Friday.
1:43pm: There has been significant positive movement toward an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA on a new drug policy for the league, according to Albert Breer and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (Twitter link), who report that the league has dropped its request for discipline upon DUI arrests (without due process). The team player representatives are expected to spend the next 24 hours reviewing the details of the NFL’s latest proposal, and if all goes well, they should conduct a vote before Sunday (Twitter link).
While the DUI issue appears to have been tentatively resolved, there are still a couple areas of contention, according to Breer and Rapoport. The two sides have yet to agree upon the HGH testing protocol and neutral arbitration on appeals — the union’s lawyers flagged language in those two areas that had been modified in the league’s most recent proposal, and that was enough to force the team player reps to postpone a vote on whether or not to approve the new policy (Twitter links).
Still, there are a number of areas which have not been divisive and have essentially been agreed upon, including the idea of revisiting all player suspensions for the 2014 league year relating to the drug policy (Twitter link). If the new policy is approved this week, players like Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick – who were suspended for 2014 violations – would likely be able to play as soon as this Sunday (Twitter link). Those suspensions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but Welker’s and Scandrick’s bans were based on a part of the policy which will be modified to make penalties less punitive, so they should be retroactively wiped out.
Of course, not all current suspensions will be so cut-and-dried; Breer and Rapoport point to Josh Gordon‘s case as one that will be a little more complicated (Twitter link). An agreement on a new drug policy would mean revisiting all suspensions levied since the new league year began on March 11, 2014, but while failed tests like Welker’s and Scandrick’s actually took place this year, Gordon failed his test last season. So even though the Browns wideout wasn’t disciplined until this year, the new policy may not apply to his suspension.
However, until a new plan is approved and until we hear exactly what it entails, we’re still in wait-and-see mode. For now, it appears that the NFLPA is moving toward voting on the NFL’s proposal, perhaps as early as tonight, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
NFLPA Doesn’t Vote On New Drug Policy
9:45pm: The saga continues. NFL player reps could vote on a new drug policy soon as tomorrow and suspended players expecting their reinstatement believe that a quick return to the field is possible, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.
9:20pm: In the new proposed program, players who test positive for marijuana will have a few extra stages and the second offense will drop from a four-game suspension to two games, tweets Glazer.
9:06pm: There are still five issues at hand for the NFLPA and the NFL to iron out, according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The union is hoping to have an update for players within the next 24 hours.
8:56pm: The conference call is ongoing but the sense amongst the NFLPA is still that the proposal isn’t good enough to vote on, Breer tweets.
8:44pm: It doesn’t sound like there will be a vote anytime soon either, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
8:38pm: NFL player reps will not vote on the new policy tonight, a league source tells Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The two sides were hung up on the issue of DUI punishment, says Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
Sources tell Albert Breer of the NFL Network (on Twitter) that there were so many issues with the proposal that the NFL put in front of the players tonight that it just wasn’t worth voting on. On top of that, the NFL didn’t get their latest proposal to the NFLPA until very late in the day, Getlin tweets.
10:46am: The NFLPA has informed the player reps that a conference call to discuss the drug policy will be held at 8:00pm central time tonight, reports Breer (via Twitter). According to Breer, that discussion could ultimately result in a vote on the new policy.
10:05am: As we heard last night, the NFLPA’s 32 team player reps are set to vote today on whether or not to accept a new drug policy proposed by the NFL. However, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, that vote isn’t necessarily guaranteed to take place. Florio reports that there’s no tentative agreement in place at this point, and that the NFLPA has asked the league to make a proposal on which the players could decide. If union leadership decides that proposal is worth voting on, then the vote will take place.
As Florio suggests, that “somewhat unorthodox protocol” suggests that the NFLPA’s leadership – including executive director DeMaurice Smith – is facing pressure from players to get something finalized, perhaps because an agreement could mean that several suspended players, such as Josh Gordon and Wes Welker, would have the opportunity to be reinstated. Retroactively evaluating those penalties based on a new drug policy has been one of the key points for a new agreement, and both sides seem to be in agreement on that issue.
However, as Albert Breer of the NFL Network writes, the two sides remain apart on some issues, most notably how to handle DUI arrests. According to Breer, who hears that the DUI issue is “by far” the biggest sticking point, the players are unlikely to approve any proposal which involves immediate suspensions upon a DUI arrest, without due process. A one-game deactivation without pay upon a DUI arrest seems like the most logical compromise.
Still, while the DUI rules need to be ironed out, there is agreement in many other areas, per Breer. A few other terms that could be part of the new agreement are as follows:
- An increased threshold for positive marijuana tests.
- Offseason positive tests for amphetamines falling under the substance of abuse policy rather than the performance enhancing drug policy.
- Immediate implementation of HGH testing.
Latest On Drug Policy Talks
7:58pm: The NFLPA will have 32 player reps vote on Tuesday regarding a proposed overhauled drug policy after daylong negotiations, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (Twitter link). Mortensen also reported that if the new agreement gets approved, suspended players such as Josh Gordon and Wes Welker could be reinstated.
4:45pm: Negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA on a new drug policy for the league continue to progress, with Albert Breer of the NFL Network reporting that the two sides met in person in New York this afternoon for face-to-face discussions (Twitter link). According to Breer, the in-person meeting is a signal of how talks have advanced, though the policy for DUIs remains a sticking point (Twitter link).
Meanwhile, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report spoke to a union source who said that are three points that are “non-negotiable” for the players in the new policy. According to Cole (all Twitter links), the players want to ensure that there are no suspensions for initial arrests, reasonable standards for positive marijuana tests, and control over appeals for HGH suspensions. On those last two points, the union would like marijuana standards to be roughly in line with most state-employee standards, and want a third party – rather than the commissioner – have final say on HGH decisions.
As for the idea that the league wants to enact suspensions for initial arrests, Cole adds (via Twitter) that even team executives are confused by that, pointing out that charges might be dropped or a player may be proven innocent. Based on what we’ve heard so far, it sounds as if the NFL would like to institute mandatory deactivations, rather than suspensions, for players charged with DUI. That would allow the league to avoid seeing that player on the field immediately following his arrest, but wouldn’t necessarily dock him any pay unless he was later suspended after due process.
NFLPA Refused HGH, Gordon Offer
While we heard yesterday that the NFL was considering vacating the suspensions of Josh Gordon, Wes Welker, and other players as part of a new drug policy agreement, the union doesn’t seem to have looked fondly upon that proposal. A league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the NFLPA refused an offer from the league to expunge Gordon’s one-year ban in exchange a resolution on HGH testing.
Per Florio, the union is loathe to consider an accord that aids one player (Gordon) at the expense of others. The new policy would likely raise the league’s THC limit, which currently sits at 15 nanograms per mililiter, to something approaching the standard of MLB (50 ng/ml) or the Olympics (150 ng/ml). Gordon’s positive marijuana test came back with 16 ng/ml, just one nanogram over the limit.
On the matter of HGH, Florio reports that the NFLPA wants commissioner Roger Goodell to give up disciplinary power on HGH issues that don’t relate to a positive test. Instead, the union prefers that a third-party arbiter handle such instances.
For his part, Gordon indicated earlier today that he does not intend to sue the league to in order to play in 2014.
Extra Points: HGH, Thompson, Raiders
Reports today, including one from ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen, have suggested that talks between the NFL and the NFLPA have intensified, as the two sides attempt to implement HGH testing and revamp the league’s current drug policy. However, NFLPA president Eric Winston has issued a statement cautioning that there’s still work to be done.
“Players who have been to any collective bargaining negotiation understand that we never describe them as ‘very close,'” Winston said. “We look at every issue we can to improve the rights and benefits of players. This process takes time, it takes creativity and it is never easy. We want to get a new agreement in place but we understand the responsibility we have to the players and to the game. It is critical that we get this right.”
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Ted Thompson’s new contract with the Packers should keep him with the team well into his mid-60s. Rapoport reports that the deal, which was signed in July, is a three-year pact that runs through 2018.
- Meanwhile, Peter King takes an in-depth look at Thompson in a piece for TheMMQB.com, which includes the Packers GM discussing the team’s signing of Julius Peppers.
- Although a report on Wednesday suggested that the City of Oakland is closing in on an agreement for a new stadium for the Raiders, San Antonio is “still in conversations” to move the Raiders to Texas, city manager Sheryl Sculley tells Josh Baugh and Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
- During the 48-hour window between when the Saints cut him and re-signed him, Robert Meachem received inquiries from other teams, but he says he knew the call from New Orleans was coming, tweets Sean Fazende of FOX 8 Sports.
- Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com explains why the 49ers saw $8MM in cap space disappear this week, as the cap calculations for the 2014 season started taking into account teams’ full rosters rather than just their top 51 highest-paid players.
Extra Points: NFLPA, Moreno, Contract Details
Newly-minted NFLPA president Eric Winston is just hours into his new role, but he sounds like he’s ready to hit the ground running.
“This union has always been about fighting,” Winston told Tom Pelissero of USA Today. “It won’t change.”
Winston didn’t mince words when it came to the idea of expanding the NFL season from 16 to 18 games, telling Pelissero that the idea is “dead in the water.” He was less definitive when it came to the idea of playoff expansion, but he made it clear that the union will only be on board under certain conditions. Here’s more from around the NFL:
- Knowshon Moreno arguably had the most impressive 2013 campaign of any of this year’s free agent running backs, but his name hasn’t surfaced at all in the last nine days. That changed today, with word breaking that the Dolphins will have Moreno in a for a visit on Friday (Twitter link via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald).
- The Panthers continue to pursue free agent receivers, and will have Lestar Jean in for a visit tonight and tomorrow, according to Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).
- The Buccaneers hosted free agent defensive back Chris Owens today, tweets Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. Owens also met with the Steelers this week, as we heard earlier this afternoon.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap has the full breakdown of many of the new contracts signed in recent days, including, but not limited to, Andrew Hawkins‘ four-year pact with the Browns, Scott Chandler‘s two-year deal with the Bills, James Starks‘ two-year deal with the Packers, Charlie Johnson‘s two-year contract with the Vikings, and Usama Young‘s two-year deal with the Raiders.
- Jerricho Cotchery‘s deal with the Panthers is technically for five years, as Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun details (via Twitter). I imagine it includes three void years, similar to Roman Harper‘s new contract. Cotchery also received a $2.25MM signing bonus.
- Wilson (Twitter links) also provides details on a pair of minimum salary benefit contracts, noting that fullback Jed Collins will get $710K from the Lions between his $65K signing bonus and $645K base salary. Safety Craig Steltz will get $795K from the Bears between his $730K salary and the $65K roster bonus for 2014.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Extra Points: Browns, Goodson, Dolphins, Rams
After initially suggesting that he’d be open to returning to the Seahawks on a “hometown discount,” Golden Tate ultimately landed with the Lions, inking the second-largest deal of the offseason for a wide receiver. In retrospect, Tate may regret making the comment about giving Seattle a discount, as he explained on 710 ESPN in Seattle (link via Terry Blount of ESPN.com).
“I didn’t mean a 40% discount,” Tate said. “I’m going to earn in one year at Detroit what Seattle was going to pay me for two years. Seattle offered numbers that were laughable. I thought, ‘I’ve given you everything and this is what you give me?'”
As Tate looks forward to teaming up with Calvin Johnson in Detroit, let’s check in on a few more odds and ends from around the NFL….
- Free agent offensive lineman Paul McQuistan and defensive lineman Alex Carrington visited with the Browns, tweets Pat McManamon of ESPN.com.
- The Jets have converted Mike Goodson’s $650K roster bonus into a different form of roster bonus that can be obtained if he’s on the roster for all 16 games, as Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com details (via Twitter). The move takes the bonus charge off the cap, creating some modest savings for the Jets.
- Before he re-signed with the Jets, Willie Colon drew interest from the Falcons and Vikings, but those teams both ultimately “backed off,” the lineman told reporters today (Twitter link via Brian Costello of the New York Post).
- The Redskins hosted free agent guard Mike McGlynn for a visit today, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Washington is clearly in the market for at least one interior lineman after cutting Will Montgomery, considering we heard earlier in the afternoon that the club will also host Brian De La Puente.
- The conditional draft pick the Dolphins sent to the Ravens for Bryant McKinnie last season will be a seventh-rounder, a league source tells Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).
- The Vikings‘ offer to Henry Melton was competitive with the Cowboys‘ proposal in terms of salary, but the free agent defensive lineman simply chose Dallas instead, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- A little over a week into free agency, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch examines where the Rams stand, and takes an in-depth look at Rodger Saffold‘s new contract.
- Javier Arenas‘ one-year deal with the Falcons is a minimum salary benefit contract with a $65K signing bonus, says Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).
- Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has the details on the new additions to the NFLPA’s executive committee.
Eric Winston Named NFLPA President
Free agent tackle Eric Winston has been elected as the new president of the NFL Players Association, as Melissa Mahler writes at ProPlayerInsiders.com. Winston, who will take over the job from Domonique Foxworth, had been running against Ryan Clark and Ben Watson, who both tweeted congratulations to the veteran offensive lineman.
Winston, who played for the Cardinals in 2013, will be tasked with leading the NFLPA’s executive committee as the players continue to work on issues relating to health and safety, and look ahead to the next labor agreement.