NFL Rumors: New CBA Proposal Sent to Players, Have 7 Days to Vote

The proposed NFL collective bargaining agreement was reportedly completed Thursday, with ballots being sent out to the NFLPA for ratification.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported ballots were sent out at 9 a.m. ET Thursday. Players will have until 11:59 p.m. ET March 12 to vote on whether to accept the proposal. A majority of NFLPA members must vote in favor of the new CBA for it to be approved.

The proposal has been divisive among players. The NFLPA executive committee voted 6-5 against recommending the new CBA, while player reps voted 17-14 (with one abstention) in favor of sending it to the union as a whole.

Several prominent players, including Aaron Rodgers, Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson, have spoken out against the proposal. All three cited safety issues with the proposed addition of a 17th regular-season game.

"Health and Wellness of our men is always the most important aspect," Sherman tweeted. "There is no price you can put on that and that is why I Voted No. I respect the Men that have been part of this discussion and stood up for their locker rooms."

Owners have already voted in favor of the agreement, which gives the league an option for a 17th regular-season game at the expense of one preseason game and the addition of two more Wild Card Round matchups (one for each conference). The extra games are expected to be a large part of the NFL's pitch in negotiating new broadcast rights deals with television networks and streaming partners.

"Yeah, I get that," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told reporters of players' hesitance to accept the 17th game. "And I think that no player would want to play an extra game, and that's why it's been such a long, tortured process of talking about it. But that's a conversation I had with every team that the league was conditioning an early deal on the 17th game, and that was a part of the package for an early deal.

"Remember, all of this conversation is about an early deal and a deal that gets done before expiration, and that was a critical term for the players, and for the players who don't want to 17 under any reason, those players will vote their conscience."

ESPN's Jeff Darlington reported the NFLPA is expected to take the full week to make a decision. Ratification is considered unlikely until at least late next week.

If approved, the deal would bring labor peace through March 2031.