Gene Upshaw expects “greedy” owners to opt out of labor deal

By Robert Rousseau  |   Sunday, May 18, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

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Executive Director of the NFL Players Association Gene Upshaw expect the league's owners to opt out of the labor deal they reached in 2006 before it expires.

Commentary: The terms of that 2006 agreement allow for either side to opt for reopening the deal by Nov. 8 of this year. If the owners notify the players that they will be reopening the deal on Tuesday in Atlanta, a move that Upshaw fully expects they could make, it might potentially result in a 2011 work stoppage.

"The way that they are going all about this points directly to a lockout," Upshaw said. He also referred to the owners as "greedy."

The interesting thing is that this move, if it is made, could end up backfiring on the owners. First, the players are adamant about not reducing their 60 percent share of the league's revenue pie, so that could be a real problem in renegotiations. But perhaps the most interesting piece to the puzzle is the league salary cap. If this case is reopened, Upshaw has warned that the players will not agree to re-institute it.

So the battle lines are already drawn.

"The owners have made it very clear that they intend to opt out of this agreement early," Upshaw said. "Our players are prepared for that."
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
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