Union, agents considering boycott of combine, draft activities

Saturday, February 05 2011

Top union officials and player agents are discussing the possibility of withholding players from the NFL Scouting Combine and 2011 NFL Draft activities, sources said Friday, with the league's collective bargaining agreement expiring March 3.

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, who addressed the media Thursday, has been meeting and talking with prominent agents in recent weeks, including a sit-down Friday morning during Super Bowl festivities in North Texas.

According to several sources familiar with the discussions, central topics included the feasibility of withholding clients from the combine in Indianapolis in late February and boycotting draft activities in New York in late April, including the televised event itself at Radio City Music Hall. Several sources characterized the likelihood of a draft boycott as being much more likely or feasible than skipping the combine, but both options are being seriously discussed and considered by the union and agents.

Some agents expressed concerns that skipping the combine would hurt their clients' draft stock and earning potential. However, one prominent agent said he would instruct his clients to skip the combine if there was a consensus about doing so.

Still, the potential damage to incoming rookies who skip the combine is a heavy factor.

"I'm not sure that would end up being fair to the kids," one source said, adding that it would be "more likely" that agents will band together to have clients boycott the draft events.

Smith has more meetings planned with small groups of agents later this month, and if the pace and progress of labor negotiations don't increase in coming weeks, the topics will continue to be considered within the NFLPA, sources said (source NFL.com)