How does the union work?
Player Members on each NFL team elect both a Player Representative and an Alternate Player Representative to serve on the Board of Player Representatives. The NFLPA works from the bottom-up. All power and authority to do anything in the NFLPA comes from the Board of Reps-who are elected by the player members.
The Board of Player Reps meets at least once a year, and makes all of the important decisions for the organization. For example, the Board:
* sets annual membership dues;
* adopts an annual budget;
* elects a President and ten Vice-Presidents for two-year terms;
* elects an Executive Director;
* drafts and implements regulations governing the agents and the maximum fees they can charge players;
* authorizes safety studies;
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What is the role of the Player Reps?
In addition to serving on the Board of Rep, the Player Rep (and the Alternate):
* collect membership dues or check-off cards from their teammates;
* help teammates with grievances and fine appeals;
* collect group licensing authorizations from other team members;
* act as spokesmen for the organization on their team and in their local communities;
* bring important issues to the full Board for action.
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What is a grievance?
A grievance is a dispute between a player and a club or the League concerning individual contract or CBA provisions. The NFLPA normally represents the individual player in his grievance, and is successful in considerably more than half of the cases. Filing a grievance is a legally guaranteed right of the player, so long as the grievance has merit. A player cannot be discriminated against for filing a claim. There are two types of grievances.
An injury grievance applies when a player is released by a team while he is still suffering from an injury. A typical injury grievance involves a player who comes to camp, passes the physical, later suffers an injury or re-injury, and then is cut by the team the same year. To have a valid injury grievance, the player must file within twenty-five (25) days of when he is released by the club. If a player wins an injury grievance, he gets the salary he would have received if the club had kept him until he was healthy. However, he can only win salary for the year he is injured, and not for any subsequent years.
The non-injury grievance procedure applies to most other disputes between players and clubs. Examples of non-injury grievances include:
* a player challenges a fine or suspension by his club;
* a player claims an incentive bonus clause which is disputed by the club;
* a player can't play because of a previous year's injury and claims the collectively-bargained Injury Protection Benefit.
For non-injury grievances (most other cases), a player must file within forty-five (45) days from the date when the dispute arises. For example, a player who files a grievance over a club fine would need to file his case within forty-five days of when the fine was imposed by the head coach.
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Are NFL players eligible for workers' compensation?
Players injured while playing for their NFL club may be entitled to monetary benefits under state workers' compensation statutes. Although there is much variation among the states, players are generally eligible for workers' compensation benefits while playing. The benefits usually take two different forms: Disability Pay to compensate a player for the time he is out of work due to an injury-related disability; and, Medical Expenses arising from the injury. This is important since NFL clubs will not pay medical expenses after a player leaves the game unless the player files a workers compensation claim. The NFLPA has formed a panel of Workers' Compensation Attorneys to assist players with their workers compensation claims. These are experienced attorneys who routinely represent players in workers compensation claims, and they are "on call" to help players.
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What medical rights do players have?
The CBA gives players the right to a second medical opinion concerning their physical ability or inability to play football. The club must pay for this provided the player:
* First consults with the club physician prior to seeing the second opinion physician; and
* Makes sure that the physician rendering the second opinion provides the club with a copy of his/her report.
If a player is a candidate for surgery, he has the right to select a surgeon of his choice to perform the surgery. However, unless the surgery is an emergency, the player must first consult the club physician and give due consideration to any recommendation made by the club physician. All medical bills are to be paid by the club.
The CBA also gives a player the right to examine his medical or trainers' records twice a year--once during the pre-season and again after the regular season. Also, a player or former player may obtain a copy of his medical file upon request during the off-season, and his personal physician may obtain a copy of his medical records at any time. If the club physician notifies any club representative that a player has a medical condition which could adversely affect his performance or health, the physician must also notify the player. If the condition can be significantly aggravated by the player continuing to play, the physician must notify the player of this in writing before he can return to the field.
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What is termination pay?
The Termination Pay benefit provides a guarantee of 100% of a player's "paragraph 5 [base] salary" if he has completed four or more credited seasons. A player must be released after the club's first regular season game to get the benefit, and he must have made the active/inactive list at some point in the season. A player must claim termination pay between the end of the regular season and no later than February 1. If the claim is made before or after those dates it may not be valid.
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What is the NFL System?
The Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in 1993 brought unrestricted free agency to NFL players for the first time in history. In the past, players were subject to systems severely limiting their right to market their services to other clubs when their contracts expired. It took a long and very expensive legal battle waged from 1987 to 1993 to end those restrictions.
Under the current system, veterans with four or more accrued seasons (five or more in an uncapped year) are totally free at the end of their contracts to sign with another NFL team, subject only to being designated their team's "franchise player" at that time. The system also includes a salary cap. The salary cap of 60% of revenues is quite flexible since it includes only a proportionate share of signing bonuses-which comprise the vast majority of guaranteed salaries that players receive-- each year. As a result, most teams have actual salary expenditures that exceed the cap every season.
The current system has four cornerstones:
* an uncapped season as both the beginning and last season under the Collective Bargaining Agreement;
* the ability to prorate signing bonuses over the length of the player's contract;
* the ability to renegotiate a contract and receive new guaranteed salary;
* the promise of unrestricted free agency once a player has four accrued seasons.
These cornerstones are so vital to the system that the Board of Player Reps has voted to let the CBA expire rather than allow any substantive changes be made to them.
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How does NFL Free Agency work?
Free agency rights depend on the number of "accrued seasons" the player has at the time his contract expires. An accrued season is a season in which the player has been on "full pay status" for six (6) or more regular season games. There are three categories of free agents:
1. Unrestricted: In a capped year, a player with four or more accrued seasons has unrestricted free agency rights. Five or more accrued seasons are required for unrestricted free agency in an uncapped year (1993 or the last year of the CBA). An unrestricted free agent may sign with any team. If the unrestricted free agent is not signed by June 1, his old club may offer him a contract with a 10% raise over his prior year's salary, and thereby obtain the exclusive right to re-sign him after July 15 if he has not signed elsewhere by then.
2. Restricted: A player with three but less than four accrued seasons (four but less than five in an uncapped year) can seek offers from other clubs after his contract expires, but he has only 60 days to do so (from around March 1 to mid-April). If he gets an offer, his old club must choose between matching it and retaining him, or letting him go to the new club in return for draft choice compensation. The draft choice compensation varies depending upon the offer the old club gives the player prior to becoming a restricted free agent.
3. Exclusive Rights: A player with an expiring contract who has less than three accrued seasons can only sign with his old club, provided that he is offered a one-year contract at the minimum salary for the upcoming year. If the exclusive rights free agent gets no such offer, he is completely free.
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Are there exceptions to Free Agency?
A player who is in the unrestricted category will have his free agency rights restricted if he is designated as either a Transition Player or a Franchise Player. A player subject to the transition designation must be offered the average of the top ten salaries (league-wide) at his position, and he is subject only to a right of first refusal by his old club. The franchise or transition player category can be used throughout the term of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, but clubs can only have one franchise or transition player at a given point in time. The franchise designation requires an offer equal to the average of the top five salaries league-wide in the player's position. If the club does not want to offer this tender, it can make a transition player tender, and retain only a right of first refusal. The CBA also provides for a salary guarantee for any franchise or transition player who accepts the one-year tender. This is a significant benefit for the player, since he is assured of receiving the entire tender amount for the next season even if the club decides not to keep him and that also provides an incentive for the club to sign him to a longer-term contract with a big signing bonus.
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What is behind the NFL Salary Cap?
In return for agreeing to free agency, the owners got a Salary Cap which was first implemented in 1994. The Salary Cap is essentially equal to 60% of Total Revenues and includes both player salaries and benefits. Prior to 1993, NFL players historically received an average of about 40 to 50% of the league's revenues in salaries and benefits. Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, however, players are guaranteed a minimum of 50% of Total Revenues at least through 2009. This is perhaps the greatest benefit achieved in the CBA.
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How does the Salary Cap operate?
CBA rules concerning signing bonuses and renegotiation rights allow total club expenditures to exceed the cap in any given season. The main reason for this is that under CBA rules all signing bonuses are allocated equally over the years of the player's contract. For example, suppose a player signed a four-year contract in 2006 for $1 million per year, plus a $2 million signing bonus. Even though the player received $3 million in the first year ($2 million signing bonus plus $1 million in salary), only $1.5 million counted against the cap that year.
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How is the Salary Cap adjusted?
The free agency/cap system has built-in protections for players assuring that various dollar amounts for minimum salaries and tenders will increase along with league revenues during the term of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Since gate revenues increase each year along with built-in increases in network TV contracts, there is a higher cap each year. Meanwhile, individual clubs have to spend at least 84% of the Salary Cap on player salaries and benefits each year, and the clubs as a group have to average over 50% to be in compliance with the CBA rules.
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How long does the current CBA go?
In 2006 the CBA was extended through 2012 season. However, either the union or the owners can shorten this extension by two years if it gives notice to the other side by November 1, 2008, or by one year if it gives notice before November 1, 2009. If that happens, the CBA will end after the 2010 or 2011 season.
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Why is the last season of the CBA uncapped?
The NFLPA insisted that the last year be uncapped so that the status quo at the expiration of the CBA will be a system with no cap. This also provides incentive for the owners to bargain an extension before the last year of the CBA.
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