The deadline for the CBA vote is set for March 12. That’s only a week away. That presents some obvious challenges for the NFLPA and its players. It’s not like everyone is in camp or teams are close to each other. There are a lot of people who need to get educated on the deal. These challenges aren’t huge roadblocks, but they are something to keep an eye on over the next week. Let’s get to them.
Players are scattered
Since it’s the offseason players are all over the country. Some of them are on vacation. Maybe a few of them are taking some time to disconnect. This problem actually leads to a lot of the other challenges that will follow.
The last lockout happened from March 12 until June 25 in 2011. That means players could vote on the deal because they were expected to be at work. Everyone was kind of close. This is the peak of the offseason. Players simply aren’t around. They can’t vote by paper. There has to be an electronic method of voting.
Education
Because players aren’t in a centralized location it’s simply harder to get educated on the deal. No one wants to focus on work when they are on vacation. It’s simply an issue of motivation. People want to relax, unwind, and not think about their profession.
Sure they NFLPA can do as many conference calls as they want. Players can reach out to their agents. The problem is if people are going to do that or if they are going to vote blind.
Maybe players vote because they saw a reaction on Twitter. That’s not a full education on the deal. It might happen though.
The sheer size of membership
There are reportedly 2,500 eligible voting members for the CBA. That means making sure 2,500 people are ready and educated to vote on the issue and that they actually do vote on the issue. Players could vote sooner if they’d like, but we may be waiting until the last day to get all the votes counted. That’s a problem if . . .
It’s a tough vote
Look, there’s a reason the vote for team reps 17-14. There’s a reason the executive committee had a close vote as well. This is a tough vote and it’s going to either set the path for the next 10 years or it’s going to lead to difficult re-negotiations and a potential work stoppage. This is not an easy choice for players to make. There are surely some areas where players should be receiving more benefits, but the owners won’t budge. There are some clauses that help younger players and players who are on minimum contracts. It’s not an easy choice. Reaching a majority is not a foregone conclusion.
