POSTED 9:46 p.m. EST, March 6, 2006

 

UNION NEEDS TO BE READY TO MOVE

 

As the NFL owners prepare to convene in Dallas on Thursday to take up the latest proposal from the union, NFLPA lawyer Jeffrey Kessler is throwing more rhetoric against the wall.

 

"The deal goes to the owners [Tuesday] for approval up or down," Kessler said in an e-mail to ESPN.  "If up, we have a deal.  If down, we go to the uncapped year.  Nothing in between and no more negotiation."

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 

Let's review some of the tough talk we've heard from the union of late.

 

Upshaw swore up and down in Indy that he'd never agree to extend the start of the 2006 league year.  And yet we're now in the middle of the second three-day extension.

 

Upshaw said that the percentage of total football revenues in the new deal must start with a "6".  And yet the union's current proposal is at 59.5 percent.

 

Kessler said on Saturday that the talks were "dead as a doornail."  And yet they resurrected the next day.

 

Read my lips.  No new taxes.

 

Hey, Gene and Jeff.  Before you push your constituents into the great unknown, keep this in mind.  A league source tells us that, under the proposal currently on the table, the players will realize at least $640 million in additional money, guaranteed, over the next two years. 

 

That's $640 million.  As we've previously said, if the union pushes for the uncapped year (which seems to be less and less appealing for players by the day) there's no salary maximum . . . and no salary minimum.  So for every team that blows it out financially in 2007, there easily could be two or more others that shut it down and pocket the money as protection against a possible work stoppage in 2008.

 

The mesasage?  If the league comes back with a counter, the NFLPA needs to be ready to keep talking.

 

We figure that they will.  After all, it's not as if the union has followed through on any of the other hollow threats it has made over the past month.

 

FIRST DETAILS ON OTHER NEW CBA TERMS

 

The talk regarding the new CBA has focused to date only on the two big terms -- the percentage of total football revenue to be devoted to the cap and the limits on "cash over cap."  But we've now picked up some details regarding other terms that will appear in the contract between the NFL and the NFLPA, if a deal gets down. 

 

Specifically, the new deal will place limits on the length of rookie contracts.  First-round draft picks will be permitted to sign a maximum contract of six years in length.  Second-round picks will be permitted to sign for up to five years.  All other deals will be limited to a maximum of four years.

 

But shorter deals can be used.  Many low-round picks sign only three-year contracts, allowing them to hit the restricted free agent market. 

 

POSTED 8:16 p.m. EST; UPDATED 8:58 p.m. EST, March 6, 2006

 

ARRINGTON TURNED DOWN $6.5 MILLION

 

A reader has tipped us off to an unusual dynamic regarding the recent release of linebacker LaVar Arrington by the Redskins, which occurred when he agreed to waive $4.4 million in earned but unpaid signing bonus money.  We've confirmed the following new information through a league source.

 

As it turns out, the 'Skins offered to convert the $6.5 million roster bonus owed to Arrington into a guaranteed signing bonus, which would have permitted it to be prorated over four years.  The 'Skins also offered to move up all or part of the $4.4 million in deferred payments from his December 2003 signing bonus.

 

Arrington was poised at one point to accept the deal, but then opted for free agency.

 

So the maneuver results in a $10.9 million hole from which Arrington will now dig on the open market.  And if his agents haven't lined up a deal that will pay him more than $10.9 million plus his $545,000 base salary in 2006, it will prove in hindsight to be a bad move.

 

BUCS' DEAL WITH HOVAN VIOLATES CBA?

 

We heard on Sunday night that defensive tackle Chris Hovan had reached agreement on a multi-year deal with the Bucs worth $3.5 million per year.  On Monday, PewterReport.com and others reported that the deal is worth $17.5 million over five years. 

 

The catch is that Hovan signed a one-year deal for the veteran minimum last season with Tampa.  Per a twist in the 2002 CBA extension aimed at encouraging teams to stick will more seasoned players, Hovan received $540,000, and it cost the team only $455,000 in real dollars and cap dollars.  Based on our understanding of the rules, Hovan isn't allowed to re-sign with the team until the start of the next league year.

 

There's also a school of thought that even a verbal deal is prohibited.  Indeed, the 49ers quickly denied reports last week that they'd reached an agreement in principle on a long-term deal with one-year-minimum kicker Joe Nedney.

 

The Bears successfully circumvented the letter, but possibly not the spirit, of the rule recently by cutting offensive lineman John St. Clair from a one-year deal that expired at the end of the 2005 league year -- and then re-signing him the very next day to a long-term extension.

 

There was no reason to cut St. Clair other than to re-sign him to a long-term contract before the start of the 2006 league year.

 

We suspect that the penalty for violating the rule would be a 2006 cap charge in the amount of the difference between the $455,000 and the money that the player actually received under the one-year deal.  But determining the sanction is irrelevant if, by all appearances, there's not going to be any enforcement.

 

GREEN STILL ON THE GIANTS

 

From the "Stories We've Known About But Didn't Have Time To Write During Our Nauseating Coverage Of The CBA Talks and Vince Young's Wonderlic" file, it turns out that linebacker Barrett Green is still a member of the New York Giants.

 

We first became aware of the issue last week, when Howard Balzer of USA Today Sports Weekly told us that the league had reversed the Giants' waiver of Green, who was signed prior to the 2004 season.

 

We then poked around and found out that the league had rejected the waiver because Green's deal contains guaranteed money in the remaining years.  As a result, he can't be released until the start of the next league year.

 

So there's a clear downside for teams when it comes to putting guaranteed money into the "out" years of deals.  When it comes time to get under the cap at the start of the league year, players with that guaranteed money can't be dumped until the start of the league year, when the team otherwise is already under the limit.

 

GLOVER SIGNS WITH RAMS

 

Several readers are confused by the fact that defensive tackle La'Roi Glover has signed with the Rams prior to the start of free agency.  How could, they ask, Glover sign a free-agent deal prior to the start of free agency?

 

Here's the difference.  The launch of 2006 free agency applies only to players whose contracts expire after the 2005 season.  If a player is cut or released before the start of free agency, he's already a free agent and can sign anywhere.

 

This rule applies only to so-called "vested veterans," who aren't required to clear waiver except during the period from the trading deadline through the Super Bowl.  For guys with less than four credited seasons, a release always requires the player to pass through waivers.

 

So in Glover's case, he was cut by the Cowboys and became instantly free to sign with anyone.

 

POSTED 12:46 p.m. EST, March 6, 2006

 

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

 

One of the realities of on-again, off-again collective bargaining talks is that there often will be various different opinions -- and thus various different accounts -- of the actual state of affairs.

 

As to the ongoing discussions between the NFL and the NFLPA, there are slightly varying reports as to the current status of the negotiations.  Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that there is an "agreement in principle" between the league and the union, subject to the approval of the 32 owners.  Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com says that the NFLPA's latest offer will be presented to management for consideration on Tuesday.

 

The difference is subtle, yet significant.  Under Mort's version, the league office already has placed its seal of approval on the deal.  Under Glaze's version, the Commish is merely the messenger.

 

To the extent that any of the owners are still listening to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who is essentially in his short-time, lame-duck stretch, the approval of the Commissioner has a lot of meaning.  But if they're plugging their ears and yelling "La-la-la-la-la-la-la," why even have a Commissioner?  

 

It's a dynamic that is meaningless to most fans but fascinating to folks who are drawn to the business aspect of the sport.  At some point, Tags has to ask himself, "If I know what's good for the owners but they don't agree with me, what the hell am I doing here?"

 

We know it's not his style to bang heads or kick butt, but we've got a feeling that he's getting worn down by the past few weeks, during which he undoubtedly feels like a proctologist.

 

"Why do you feel like a proctologist?" 

 

"Because I'm surrounded by assholes."  

 

Rim shot.

 

We said last week that Tags' legacy was on the line for the meeting in New York, which ended up being a 57-minute waste of travel time on private planes.  Though that meeting apparently devoted little attention to the issues that are keeping the owners from being on the same page, the session starting on Tuesday surely will tackle these matters, and the Commish's trip to Dallas now becomes, in our opinion, the most important aspect of his entire tenure.

 

POSTED 11:45 a.m. EST, March 6, 2006

 

DETAILS ON ARRINGTON DEAL

 

A league source has shared with us some of the details regarding the unusual deal that allowed Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington to become a free agent.  Per the source, Arrington didn't give up any money that he's already received.  Also, he didn't waive the right to future guaranteed money hasn't yet come due.

 

Instead, he waived his right to $4.4 million in deferred signing bonus money that was earned by him upon signing his most recent contract extension in December 2003.

 

The maneuver, we're told, was the result of efforts by the team to restructure Arrington's contract, which carried for this year a cap number in excess of $12 million.  Cutting him, however, would have cost even more under the cap. 

 

The day of reckoning would have been July 15, when he would have earned a $6.5 million roster bonus.  The 'Skins most likely would have scalped him on the eve of the deadline, thrusting him into the market after much of the grocery money already had been spent.

 

So with the two sides at impasse and Arrington wanting out and the team unable to let him go without making their cap mess even messier, Arrington offered to give up the $4.4 million in earned but unpaid money.

 

As a result, the team gets a credit for that money against the next league year's salary cap.  Because, technically, the deal was struck in the 2005 league year, the cap hit for cutting him has dropped by a full $4.4 million.

 

This whole thing could have been avoided if Arrington's agents had insisted on the 2006 roster bonus coming due in March, not July.  Under the scenario, the team surely would have cut him and eaten the bigger cap hit, in order to avoid handing him $6.5 million.

 

Memo to all agents -- make those roster bonuses come due as early as possible in the league year.  Otherwise, your guy twists in the wind while everyone else is getting paid.

 

POSTED 9:25 a.m. EST, March 6, 2006

 

NFL, UNION HAVE AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE

 

Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported moments ago on Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio that the NFL and the NFLPA have reached an agreement in principle on a new CBA, and that the deal is subject to approval of the owners on Tuesday.

 

Under the deal, the NFL will devote 59.5 percent of total football revenues to player salaries.  On one hand, the league moved a lot farther than the union as to the reported gap of 56.2 percent and 60 percent that existed before the weekend.  On the other hand, the deal undermines the credibility of NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw, who insisted that the first number would have to be a "6".

 

Mort also says that it's no guarantee that the owners will approve the deal.  Pats owner Bob Kraft, Mort says, is strongly opposed to the package, which addresses revenue sharing via the so-called "cash over cap" issue.

 

"Cash over cap" is the amount of total money paid to players in a given year.  Because high-revenue teams have the ability to dump more money into players' pockets, the unlimited ability to pour future cap dollars into current cap years could, in theory, disrupt competitive balance because the low-revenue teams simply won't have the cash on hand to match a string of deals that rob Peter to pay for a Lombardi.  The proposal apparently limits the extent to which a team can spend money in a given year over the salary cap.

 

Mortensen says that Tuesday's meeting could get ugly, and that it could extend into a second day.

 

Our suggestion to the Commish -- if you didn't break out the Louisville Slugger when the fellas got together last week in New York, make sure you take it with you to Texas.  Your legacy is on the line, and it's time to stand up and build a consensus. 

 

If you can't, then walk away.  If nothing else, it'll get the attention of the guys who are no longer listening to you because you're a short-timer.

 

POSTED 9:12 a.m. EST, March 6, 2006

 

TEAMS MAKING FARCE OF TAMPERING RULES

 

As we've been saying for much of the past couple of weeks, teams are talking to the agents of players who are not yet free agents.  Technically, it's tampering. 

 

As a practical matter, no one cares.

 

Agent Mitch Frankel implicitly acknowledged last week that tampering is common when he explained that he assumes the Vikings aren't interested in running back Jamal Lewis because the Vikings hadn't called to say that they're interested.  It's an implicit admission that tampering occurs.

 

And everyone does it.  Indeed, there is a published report that the Vikings might have a deal in place with Chargers linebacker Ben Leber, and it's pretty clear that the Eagles will sign Saints center LeCharles Bentley as soon as free agency launches.

 

As to former Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington, we strongly suspect that his agents lined up a deal somewhere else before advising Arrington to cough up $4 million for his freedom.  To permit him to take that kind of a financial risk without gauging the market first would have been downright stoopid.  Of course, the Redskins can't complain because they've been implicated in tampering issues in the past (see Lawyer Milloy).

 

It's a strange dynamic.  Because everyone does it, no one in their right mind will complain when it happens to them.

 

Twelve years of Catholic school has made yours truly a stickler for rules, and the notion that no one respects the rule that's on the books regarding tampering drives us crazy.  But if the NFL were to, say, permit free agents to talk to other teams as soon as the football season ends, we're sufficiently pragmatic to acknowledge that the tampering would likely still occur. 

 

It would simply occur earlier.

 

So the best approach might be to keep the rule in place, even though no one pays attention to it.  The problem is that, with teams and agents becoming more and more brazen and obvious in their violations of the tampering rules, someone eventually is going to have to get nailed for violating the rule in order to prevent the whole thing from looking like a complete joke.

 

Oh, wait.  It already does.

 

Until someone gets nailed, tampering will continue to occur.  Even as guys like Vikings personnel guru Fran Foley acts like it isn't.

 

"You can't make contact with these [players]," Foley said in discussing the sense of anticipation that his cap-rich team is experiencing, "you can't plan with the agents and things like that [beforehand]."

 

You "can't" -- but you "do."

 

It's a don't ask, don't tell kind of thing.  The problem is that with guys like Frankel beginning to tell, the NFL ultimately will be forced to ask some tough questions.

 

VINCE GOT A 15

 

Here's the last word (for now) on the Vince Young Wonderlic fiasco.  Although one of our team-level sources told us on Sunday that no scores were reported for Young in the Wonderlic results that were distributed by the combine, two other sources tell us that the report shows Young scoring a 15 out of 50, with an indication that he answered only 33 of the questions in his 12-minute time allotment.

 

The report only mentions one score, ignoring completely the test Young took on Saturday.

 

Young's agent, Major Adams, previously acknowledged that the former Texas quarterback took a second test on Sunday.  Adams claimed that Young got a 16.

 

To date, no one from the NFL or the combine has addressed Young's score from the first time he took the test, other than to say that the report that he got a six was inaccurate.

 

Until someone comes clean on what happened on Saturday, this story will continue to hang around.  For now, we're going to assume that Vince got a six on Saturday, since no one has put forth any objective proof to the contrary. 

 

MONDAY MORNING ONE-LINERS

 

The owners will take up the union's latest proposal when they get together in Dallas on Tuesday (as one industry source remarked to us last week, all the money these guys have spent on jet fuel could have instead been diverted to increasing the percentage of TFR they're willing to pay to the players).

 

The Seahawks have extended low-end tenders to RFAs Seneca Wallace and Josh Brown.

 

RB Shaun Alexander's new deal has a greater total value than the contract signed by RB LaDainian Tomlinson, but L.T. got another $5 million in guaranteed money.

 

Though RB Shaun Alexander has been re-signed, the Seahawks have 13 other unrestricted free agents, a transition player, and three RFAs.

 

The Steelers were negotiating restructured deals with C Jeff Hartings and C Chukky Okobi before the deadline for getting under the cap was extended; the Steelers still need to clear another $2 million under the current $94.53 million cap.

 

The Colts created $12.5 million in cap room via a restructuring of the contracts of QB Peyton Manning and WR Marvin Harrison; the moves resulted from a ruling last week that found certain terms in their contracts violated the 30 percent rule.

 

The Packers signed RB Ahman Green to a contract worth $2 million in salary and up to $3 million in incentives.

 

The Bears want a field-stretching tight end.

 

The Jets cleared $1.1 million in cap room by cutting C Kevin Mawae.

 

Saints C LeCharles Bentley bristles as the suggestion that he missed the final two games of the 2005 season in order to keep himself healthy for free agency:  "If anyone in that organization has any questions about whether I gave everything I had while I was there, then they can go to hell."  (Based on what the franchise went through last year, we think they've already been there and back.  Twice.)

 

The Giants are interested in CB Sam Madison.

 

The Jags might spend some of that money they aren't making on tickets sales on big-ticket free agents.

 

POSTED 12:26 a.m. EST, March 6, 2006

 

ARRINGTON BUYS HIS FREEDOM

 

Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington has ponied up more than $4 million in cash to the team in order to secure his freedom.

 

The move most likely enables the team to save money under the cap as a result of his departure.  Previously, keeping or cutting Arrington would have resulted in an eight-figure cap hit, with the hit $100,000 or so higher if he had gotten cut.

 

The agreement ends a relationship that had grown rocky over the past two-plus years.  Weeks after signing a big-money extension in December 2003, Arrington's agents claimed that the team had hoodwinked LaVar by removing from the final version of the paperwork a $6.5 million roster bonus due in July 2006.  His agents, Carl and Kevin Poston, admitted that they didn't read the final version of the deal before signing it.

 

They're now dealing with a disciplinary action filed against them by the NFLPA.

 

The allegation of fraudulent conduct on the part of the team was odd in light of the fact that the Redskins already had promised in the deal to pay him a $6.5 million roster bonus in July 2006.  The Postons essentially were claiming that a second roster bonus of that same magnitude should have been included, which would have pushed his cap number for this season toward a ridiculous $19 million, which translates to more than 20 percent of the team's entire spending limit under the current CBA.

 

A grievance was filed and Arrington ultimately agreed to a face-saving settlement that, as a practical matter, didn't give him much of anything in return.  Dogged by a knee injury for much of 2004, he then was in the doghouse during the early stages of the 2005 season, possibly due to the lingering ill will engendered by the contract dispute.  Though he ultimately redeemed himself on the field, Arrington drew the ire of coach Joe Gibbs by musing about his long-term status with the team as the 'Skins prepared to play the Eagles in a game that was crucial to Washington's playoff hopes.

 

Arrington suggested at one point during the 2005 season that he might retire from the game if the 'Skins don't want him back.  By coughing up $4 million in money already paid, it's obvious that Arrington still wants to play somewhere.

 

Although the Redskins surely would have cut Arrington before his $6.5 million roster bonus came due, paying the money to get out now gives him a chance to hit the market in the early days of free agency, when the money tends to flow a little more freely.  If, however, his agents had made the roster bonus due in March, Arrington would have gotten out without having to pay a dime.

 

At a time when tampering is more rampant than ever in the NFL, our guess is that Arrington already has an agreement in principle with a new team, and that the deal more than compensates him for the $4 million that he paid back to the Redskins.  With the union already up the Postons' butts, the last thing they need to be doing is advising him to pay the $4 million back without having a damn good idea what he'd get somewhere else.

 

Our own money is on the Vikings and the Browns as his next destination, with the Steelers as an outside possibility.