In the end, the owners weren’t stupid or arrogant enough to kill the NFL as we know it. The owners voted 30-2 to extend the CBA for another six years. The only votes against came from Buffalo and Cincinatti.
Details are filtering out about the new extension but here’s what we know so far:
- Salary cap will be $102M in 2006 and $109M in 2007.
- The players union apparently got at least some of what they asked for because Paul Tagliabue said about $900M will be added to players’ salaries over the life of the deal.
- The extra $900M for the player pool will be funded by the top 15 revenue teams.
How quickly things change. As of last week, teams who were under the salary cap stood to make out big in the offseason because of the glut of veteran free agents expected to be on the market. However, with the new deal, teams find themselves with extra cap money and will be able to sign some of the players they were expected to cut.
All is right in NFL land again but this should be a very anti-climatic free agent season. Maybe LaVar Arrington can predict the future. There’s a lot more cap money now for him to sign a great deal somewhere else.
[NFL.com] : Owners approve six-year CBA extension
