There’s still a chance the NFL and NFLPA could extend the current collective bargaining agreement, but union executive director DeMaurice Smith wants full financial disclosure ahead of any agreement. Smith, at the 11th hour during the final meetings, has demanded 10 years of NFL financial records, saying the union will only agree to an extension when that happens. The NFLPA has been lobbying for the financial records throughout the negotiations, but to no avail.
Football Outsider’s Doug Farrar had the best take on the demands, saying Smith and the union can’t lose.
Smith wins either way. He either breaks the owners to release data, or he heads off to a judge who just bitch-slapped the owners out of $4b
Judge David Doty is overseeing the proceedings, and ruled in the union’s favor last week, preventing the owners from accessing $4 billion in television revenue should a lockout occur. The players could file an injunction with Doty or individual players could file an antitrust lawsuit against the league, as well.
Either way, Smith has laid his cards on the table and made his biggest play yet with a lockout deadline looming. If a deal cannot be reached, the NFLPA will likely decertify by the end of the day, which would be followed by a lockout vote from the owners.
For the latest, check out the rest of our NFL lockout StoryStream.