NFL: Look forward to 'Strikes/No Salary Cap'

http://www.thesportsking.com/story.asp?story_id=113976444

Quote :

The NFL averted a labor war two years ago when outgoing commissioner Paul Tagliabue strong-armed the owners into agreeing to a collective-bargaining-agreement extension that gave the players 60 percent of the league's pot of gold. The owners can opt out of the deal in November, which seems almost a certainty right now. If that happens, 2009 would be the last capped year of the current agreement. There would be no salary cap in 2010, but the service requirement for free agency would jump from four to six years. "I think it's really common knowledge our last labor agreement is not our smartest move," Broncos owner Pat Bowlen told Jeff Legwold, of the Rocky Mountain News. "And I'm not talking about (just) the Denver Broncos. I'm talking about the (whole) league. We can't live with this deal."

The owners will certaily opt out and work out a new deal. It might get ugly but the owners understand the stakes. Expect some of the following to happen:
--60% of revenue to players
--rookie wage scale similar to the NBA, so we don't have Jamarcus Russell as one of the 5 highest-paid QBs before he's taken a snap again. The players are strongly moving in this direction and see this as a valuable negotiating concession.
--more contract $$ guaranteed but less signing bonus $$. That mitigates the need to raise the salary cap much
--better compensation for teams that lose top-tier free agents, and teams that sign those free agents lose something of value (either picks or ability to sign other FAs). The Bills, Steelers, and Giants fought real hard for this last time around
--roster expansion, a huge issue for the players. They will ask for 60-man rosters with 54 active for game day. The owners will (I'm guessing) settle for 56 man rosters and 50 actives on game day.