NFL Players Association seeks opt-out risks, conditional stipends for players with health risks
Source: ESPN #TruthBomb2020
The NFL and NFL Players Association continue to negotiate terms for a return to work, and players are requesting financial backing in case they decide to sit out the season.
Among the requests in the players' recent proposal to the league, according to a source involved:
An opt-out clause for at-risk players to receive salary (but not bonuses) if they decide not to play.
An opt-out clause for players with at-risk families to earn an accrued season and benefits if they decide not to play.
An opt-out clause for players who leave the team after reporting (terms uncertain).
A $250,000 stipend guaranteed to all players if they show up to camp and everything is shut down because of COVID-19 concerns. That amount rises to $500,000 if the season starts, only to be shut down.
The definition of "at-risk" is part of the discussion, and procedures for applying for medical opt-outs are not finalized.
If a player is serving a suspension and the season is canceled, the games unserved will not carry into the next season.
The league's June 7 memo listed the following as considerations for high-risk individuals:
African American, Hispanic or Pacific Islander
BMI ≥ 28
Sleep apnea
Hypertension
Altered immunity
Diabetes mellitus
Cardiac disease
According to ESPN's Dan Graziano, players also want no salary in escrow for 2020 and no reduction in the 2021 salary cap, despite projected revenue loss, which they would prefer to spread over multiple years. The league's initial ask to place 35% of this year's salaries in escrow is considered a nonstarter.
A source told Graziano that no further conversations between the NFL and NFLPA are scheduled for Wednesday after the sides talked each of the past two days.
Several issues remain unresolved. Players want testing every day and no preseason games, while the league wants testing less frequently (such as every other day) and two preseason games. Upon returning to camp, players want a lengthy acclimation period before beginning full practices to avoid injuries and to get comfortable in the new working environment.
Both sides must decide whether trimming the 90-man training camp rosters to avoid unnecessary contact is the right thing. On the equipment front, the league has worked with Oakley on a protective face shield, but players are lukewarm on that.
Both sides want camp and want to play, so the goal is to get there, survive the likely initial wave of positive tests and manage expectations from there.
"Get the 16 games on TV," a source told ESPN. "That's the main goal."
If there are fans in the stands, the league standard for all 32 teams would be for fans to wear face masks. The league is hoping that teams can have fan days, with social distancing inside stadiums, for training camp. With camp fast approaching, many players believe that the NFL is far from getting there.
Texans' J.J. Watt says players want to play, but they need answers
Source: ESPN #TruthBomb2020
Emphasizing that "we want to play," Houston Texans star J.J. Watt posted a list of questions that NFL players need answered before training camps can open.
The Texans are supposed to open the regular season Thursday, Sept. 10, at Kansas City, with rookies for both teams scheduled to report to camp on Saturday.
Watt, who said that he was part of four NFL Players Association calls with hundreds of players over the past two weeks, posted the questions to Twitter, beginning and ending his post with: "We want to play."
The NFL responded to the NFLPA's counterproposal on coronavirus-related reopening protocols on Tuesday night, with a major unresolved issue being whether COVID-19 should be classified as a non-football injury, a source told ESPN's Dan Graziano. NFL teams that place players on the non-football injury list are not required to pay those players.
A source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that among the requests in the players' recent proposal were opt-out clauses for at-risk players (receive salary but not bonuses), players with at-risk families (earn an accrued season and benefits) and players who leave their team after reporting (terms uncertain) if they decide not to play.
Players also are requesting a $250,000 stipend guaranteed to all players if they show up to camp and everything is shut down because of COVID-19 concerns. That amount rises to $500,000 if the season starts, only to be shut down, the source told Fowler.
The NFLPA also wants coronavirus testing every day and no preseason games this year, while the league wants less frequent testing (such as every other day) and two preseason games, the source told Fowler.
Hovering over the discussions is the spike in coronavirus cases in states like Texas, Arizona and California, and the increasing possibility that those states might soon be implementing shutdown provisions that would limit large gatherings. Should that happen, it's possible teams in those states wouldn't be able to hold training camps. An earlier NFL-NFLPA agreement stipulates that teams are required to hold training camps at their own team facilities this year, and that if any team cannot open its facility, no other team will be allowed to open its facility.
It is unclear when the NFL and NFLPA will resume formal talks, but it's expected they will speak again soon.
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