SoutheasternOhioPreps.com

Some non Covid-19 sports news:

The NFLPA approved the NFL’s proposed 2020 collective bargaining agreement Sunday morning.

The new NFL will now include a 17-game season, seven playoff teams per conference, the No. 1 seed in each conference getting that side of the bracket’s lone bye, and at least 10 more years of harmony between labor and ownership.

Changes won’t be overnight, but eased into. In 2020, the new expanded playoff field takes hold, and in 2021, the NFL could see a new 17-game slate, the first increase in regular season games when the league went from 14 to 16 in 1978.

NFLPA membership approved the new CBA by a vote of 1,019 to 959. Allegedly, there were 500 players who did not vote on the matter.

Roster size will increase from 46 players on game day to 48, and the total roster would go from 53 to 55. The practice squad would gradually increase going from 10 to 12 in 2020, and then from 12 to 14 by 2022.

Now that the new collective bargaining agreement is approved, teams can no longer use the franchise tag and the transition tag together; they must choose one. With free agents set to hit the open market, expect a flurry of deals.

https://texanswire.usatoday.com/2020/03 ... agreement/

So I guess we will have an additional week to moan and groan about the Bengals and Browns.

Didn’t pass by much.

countywide35 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:18 pm Didn’t pass by much.

The close votes on both the players and owners sides means that each side got about as much as they could hope -- anything more given up by either side would probably have resulted in a vote for non approval. Seems like very adept negotiations on each side.

I think the NFL was lucky to get this done before we get deeper into the virus outbreak. It seems like the timing of the outbreak will be less damaging to the NFL as compared to the NBA, MLB, and NHL. Maybe the NBA will go straight to the playoffs and make the first 2 rounds 2 of 3, the semifinal round 3 of 5, and the finals 4 of 7. Maybe MLB will go to about a hundred game schedule and make the playoffs expanded this year like they were talking a month or two ago with the first round of series being at only one site.

Following the NFL news is just about it !

Wonder what the reason was that 500 players chose not to vote ?

NFLPA President and Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter criticized the NFL Tuesday, saying that the league "is unwilling to prioritize player safety" amid the coronavirus pandemic. Like many other industries, football resistance to change is based on the belief that the best way to run things is the way we've always run things. That pervasive thought process will stop this season in it's tracks. Doesn't seem as if there is a lot of harmony right now between the NFL and the Players Association with the Covid-19 situation.

On Monday the league said that players would be tested daily for the coronavirus for at least the first two weeks of training camp, per the leagues new training protocols. Also the league has offered to scrap all preseason games. The players association had sought no preseason games, and in turn the league had reduced the exhibition schedule to two games. But on Monday, the NFL said it would eliminate those preseason contests, and also would offer the players 18 days for acclimation, up from 7 days. Another part of the offer is to provide a means for players concerned about participating in training camp and/or games, the chance to opt out and receive a stipend. The players union had not yet accepted the offers, should it do so, both sides would have taken a major step toward starting the season on time.