NFL executive says it's time to focus

Friday, February 04 2011

The NFL's top lawyer said Wednesday that the league and the players need to make a commitment to "intensive, serious and on-going" negotiations before the collective bargaining agreement expires in March. This article was written by Sam Farmer and appeared in The Los Angeles Times.

"Our focus is 100% on reaching an agreement with our union," said Jeff Pash, the NFL's executive vice president and general counsel. "We can reach an agreement. We will reach an agreement. We are committed to doing so, and committed to having uninterrupted football. That's our goal."

This week, the NFL and the NFL Players Assn. issued a joint statement — rare, in light of the contentious negotiations — saying they had agreed to hold a series of meetings, both formal bargaining and smaller group sessions, over the next few weeks in an effort to reach a new labor agreement by early March.

NFL owners unanimously opted out of an agreement struck in the 11th hour in 2006, and they say they want a deal that better recognizes their substantial costs. It's the league's contention that if the players give up a portion of the revenue they currently get, owners can better cover their costs and "grow the pie" to enrich everyone involved.

The players are arguing, in essence, that the current structure does not need to be altered, and that the NFL's proposal would unfairly tilt the system against them.

Pash detailed what "growing the pie" might entail. He said that could mean more games in London — and a possible franchise there — as well as bigger rosters and better benefits and health-and-safety research.

"We would be able to have stadiums in Los Angeles," he said. "We could have a new stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area. We could have a new stadium in Atlanta, a new stadium in Minnesota. There is a lot out there."