By BARRY WILNER
AP Football Writer
BOSTON — Free agency rules will change if the NFL has no
salary cap for the 2010 season, and team owners opted not to add
to potential uncertainty by bringing an antitampering measure to
the table.
The owners offered a proposal to create an offseason window when
teams can negotiate with free agents even before the players
actually become available. The idea is not dead and will be
discussed at next March’s winter meetings – weeks after free
agency is scheduled to begin.
And with no new collective bargaining agreement with the players
union in place, next season will be an uncapped year – albeit
with further restrictions on player movement.
“We’ve been discussing this for two to three years and haven’t
vetted it enough to make sure we’ve got the right system,” said
Rich McKay, co-chairman of the competition committee and
president of the Atlanta Falcons. “We’ll continue to look at it
and bring it up again.”
McKay said the owners prefer stricter enforcement of current
tampering rules.
“The anti-tampering rules have served us well,” he said. “We
hold onto the idea of let’s enforce these rules.”
Currently, a free agent can negotiate with his current team
until free agency begins. But, as McKay cryptically noted, there
have been violations.
“People have always hung on to the idea of ‘We have rules, let’s
enforce them.’ But they’re very hard to enforce,” he said. “I
don’t necessarily put all the blame on the clubs. There’s
another group at work here, a group that is not necessarily
under our control.”
That group would be player agents, many of whom consider
stretching the rules part of the free agent game.
Last March, the Titans sent information to the league that the
Redskins might have contacted Albert Haynesworth and his agent,
Chad Speck, before free agency began Feb. 27. No charges were
brought, however.
Haynesworth signed a seven-year, $100 million contract with
Washington that included $41 million in guaranteed money.
Recently, the NFL began investigating whether the New York Jets
tampered with San Francisco’s first-round draft choice, Michael
Crabtree, during his lengthy holdout. The wide receiver signed
with the 49ers earlier this month.
“They are difficult to enforce because you want to be certain
you have a violation before you take any action,” commissioner
Roger Goodell said.
“I think there could be a change in the future, but at the end
of the day the clubs focused on … we have rules in place and
don’t make any modification to it. There’s no consensus on what
modifications we should make and what the impact might be.”
Goodell said another negotiating session with the NFL Players
Association is scheduled for next week. The sides have met
several times, but no major economic negotiations on a new
collective bargaining agreement have occurred.
If 2010 winds up being an uncapped season, there could be some
confusion for players.
“With the restrictions in place, the game will be really at the
same level it has been in the past several years,” Goodell said.
“Quality is what we focus on and I don’t see it being impacted.
“But I think there will be changes that affect players. There
won’t be team (salary) minimums, (unrestricted) free agency will
go from four years to six. There are lot of factors that will
affect the dynamics.”
The owners also met with George Martin, who has been hired by
the NFL Alumni Association, a group that plans to be the lone
voice for retired players. Those players have had their
representation fragmented by many groups, and Goodell believes
working with one organization will be a positive development.
“One thing I’ve heard coming out of meetings with retired
players was that they want an independent organization that is
focused entirely on retired players,” Goodell said. "Now we can
have an entity that is independent that can identify issues that
are priorities for retired players.
“Retired players are an asset. They’re wonderful ambassadors for
the game, they mean so much to fans. To be able to cooperate
with them to provide opportunities for them, this is a great
development for us.”
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