DETROIT - NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Friday he is concerned about a lack of progress in negotiations with the NFL Players Association over an extension of the current collective bargaining agreement and indicated he did not think it would be possible to reach an agreement before the league's annual winter meetings March 26-30.
Tagliabue spoke a day after NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw also expressed pessimism about the two sides coming together soon. Upshaw, in a union news conference Thursday, said that when the players have an executive board meeting on March 9, the NFLPA would begin exploring its legal options and a possible decertification of the union.
The two sides reached a landmark labor agreement in 1993, including the league's first salary cap and the current system of player free agency. If there is no agreement on an extension, the NFL will play the 2007 season without a salary cap, and Upshaw said if that happens, the union will never again agree to any cap.
“I don't think the negotiations are going very well,” Tagliabue said at a news conference. “I think there needs to be an additional dose of reality on both sides of the table. To some degree, positions are hardening when they shouldn't be hardening. I don't know if we'll get anything done by the start of the league year (or) the league meeting because it's been one step forward and several steps backward on a lot of different issues.
“I don't think we'll be in litigation. I don't think we'll be decertifying the Players Association.”
Upshaw said after Tagliabue's news conference that he and the commissioner had agreed to forgo their trip to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii next week to intensify discussions.
The union wants at least 60 percent of total football revenues, and the league has offered about 56 percent. Upshaw also said he believes Tagliabue first must get the owners to agree on their own plans for revenue sharing among themselves before the league can focus on a CBA extension.
But New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, in attendance at Tagliabue's news conference, insisted afterward that the owners won't be able to agree on a new revenue-sharing plan until they reach an agreement on an extension.
“Right now, everyone is jockeying to get the best deal they can for their own particular cause,” Kraft said. “It's imperative that everyone can field a competitive team. If any team has a hardship, we have to make sure revenue sharing fixes it. We have an obligation to do that. In the end, we have to come up with something that both sides can live with.”
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney said he was more optimistic about reaching an agreement than either Tagliabue or Upshaw. “I think everyone has to realize we have to get this done,” he said. “No one on either side wants to commit economic suicide.”
Tagliabue also expressed concern that no new minority head coaches were hired this year to join the six black head coaches on the sidelines in 2005, despite 10 teams having vacancies. Only one opening remains, with the Oakland Raiders.
“I thought we were getting beyond the stereotypes and the guys were being respected as coaches, not African American coaches,” he said, adding that more work also is necessary to add more minority executives to team front offices. “We're going to redouble our efforts.”
On other matters, Tagliabue said the league's recent decision to use its own NFL Network to air eight games on Thursday and Saturday nights would add a third game on Thanksgiving in prime time.
He said the traditional Thanksgiving games carried on Fox and CBS from Detroit and Dallas would remain on those networks in their usual afternoon slots.
He indicated progress continues on selecting a stadium site for a team in Los Angeles, either at the Coliseum or a new facility in Anaheim. He said he did not think there would be a problem with expanding the league to 33 teams in order to get a franchise into the No. 2 television market in the country.
Tagliabue also said he remained committed to having the New Orleans Saints play their eight regular season home games next season at the Superdome. The league recently pledged $20 million to the effort to repair the stadium damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
The two sides reached a landmark labor agreement in 1993, including the league's first salary cap and the current system of player free agency. If there is no agreement on an extension, the NFL will play the 2007 season without a salary cap, and Upshaw said if that happens, the union will never again agree to any cap.
“I don't think the negotiations are going very well,” Tagliabue said at a news conference. “I think there needs to be an additional dose of reality on both sides of the table. To some degree, positions are hardening when they shouldn't be hardening. I don't know if we'll get anything done by the start of the league year (or) the league meeting because it's been one step forward and several steps backward on a lot of different issues.
“I don't think we'll be in litigation. I don't think we'll be decertifying the Players Association.”
Upshaw said after Tagliabue's news conference that he and the commissioner had agreed to forgo their trip to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii next week to intensify discussions.
The union wants at least 60 percent of total football revenues, and the league has offered about 56 percent. Upshaw also said he believes Tagliabue first must get the owners to agree on their own plans for revenue sharing among themselves before the league can focus on a CBA extension.
But New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, in attendance at Tagliabue's news conference, insisted afterward that the owners won't be able to agree on a new revenue-sharing plan until they reach an agreement on an extension.
“Right now, everyone is jockeying to get the best deal they can for their own particular cause,” Kraft said. “It's imperative that everyone can field a competitive team. If any team has a hardship, we have to make sure revenue sharing fixes it. We have an obligation to do that. In the end, we have to come up with something that both sides can live with.”
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney said he was more optimistic about reaching an agreement than either Tagliabue or Upshaw. “I think everyone has to realize we have to get this done,” he said. “No one on either side wants to commit economic suicide.”
Tagliabue also expressed concern that no new minority head coaches were hired this year to join the six black head coaches on the sidelines in 2005, despite 10 teams having vacancies. Only one opening remains, with the Oakland Raiders.
“I thought we were getting beyond the stereotypes and the guys were being respected as coaches, not African American coaches,” he said, adding that more work also is necessary to add more minority executives to team front offices. “We're going to redouble our efforts.”
On other matters, Tagliabue said the league's recent decision to use its own NFL Network to air eight games on Thursday and Saturday nights would add a third game on Thanksgiving in prime time.
He said the traditional Thanksgiving games carried on Fox and CBS from Detroit and Dallas would remain on those networks in their usual afternoon slots.
He indicated progress continues on selecting a stadium site for a team in Los Angeles, either at the Coliseum or a new facility in Anaheim. He said he did not think there would be a problem with expanding the league to 33 teams in order to get a franchise into the No. 2 television market in the country.
Tagliabue also said he remained committed to having the New Orleans Saints play their eight regular season home games next season at the Superdome. The league recently pledged $20 million to the effort to repair the stadium damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
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