CBA Basics

Now that the dust has settled, thought I would put up a basic outline of important points on the CBA, with thanks to Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk.com for the material

Length of the Agreement: Well documented that it was going to run 10 years, with no opt out clause.

Revenue Split: It’s complicated, but this was the crux of the whole debate.  The players knew they were going to take a slight hit here, which they did.  They now must get 47% of the revenue, whereas in the past, although the calculations were different, it was closer to 50/50.

Rookie Wage Scale:  This was scaled back greatly.  There will be no more breaking the bank for the high first round QB.  Cam Newton will see significantly less guaranteed money than Sam Bradford did one year ago.

Measures were also taken to lessen holdouts by high drafted rookies, basically making the contracts simplar.

Undrafted Rookies: A signing bonus cap for undrafted players is expected to be put in place.

18 Game Season: This has been dropped until at least 2013, where it can be renegotiated by the owners, but the players would have to agree.

Revenue Sharing: A new model was drawn up, which in a nutshell will tax the highest earning teams.

Salary Cap: The salary cap is set at $120.375 million for 2011, $6 million less than 2009, the last time we had a salary cap.  This will increase with increased revenues, and the players get some back in other ways as you will see.

2011 Salary Cap Flexibility: And here is one of the ways.  Teams, should they desire, can borrow $3 million against future cap years to pay current players.  They can also use an additional $3.5 million which might be used as performanced based monies, to pay veterans.

So in a sense, the salary cap rises by $6.5 million if a team decides to use it.

Salary Floors: And here is another way.  The salary floor, or the amount of the cap the teams must spend must be at 99% aggregate between 2011-2012.  From there the league number falls to 95%.  From 2013-2016 and 2017-2020 teams must spend at least 89% of the cap.

Player Safety: No more two a day practices during camp.  The teams will have more off days during their bye week in the regular season.  And the amount of padded practices are now to be heavily regulated by the league as well.

Offseason work: OTA’s have been reduced from 14 to 10 days.  The offseason program was reduced by five weeks as well.

Retired Players: The new deal created an additional $1 billion in funds, $620 million of which will be dedicated to the pension funds of pre 1993 retirees.

Tampering: There will be none since right away beginning tomorrow, teams can negotiate with any and all free agents.

There you have it, the relevant points of the CBA, thanks again to Gregg Rosenthall of ProFootballTalk for the summary.