INDIANAPOLIS — Bears general manager Ryan Pace said Tuesday that his team was ready for two financial realities: one in which the NFL and the players’ union agreed on a new collective-bargaining agreement, effective immediately, and one in which it didn’t.
‘‘We’re prepared for either one,’’ Pace said. ‘‘I think that’s us just doing our due diligence either way, and we’ll see how it plays out.’’
Tuesday night offered little in the way of clarity. Owners and members of the NFL Players Association’s executive committee and board of directors met for almost four hours at a hotel but left without providing an update. An NFL spokesman told reporters the league wouldn’t comment.
That leaves the NFL in limbo — at least for now. ESPN reported the NFLPA was planning to meet with union representatives from each team late into the night to discuss the details of the earlier meeting.
Two-thirds of those player reps would have to approve the proposed CBA to send it to a final vote of all NFL players. Then it would need only a majority to pass.
On Thursday, owners proposed a new CBA that would increase the NFL’s regular season from 16 to 17 games, expand the playoffs by one team per conference and put limits on preseason practices and, perhaps, games. The CBA would guarantee the players 48 percent of revenue in 2021, up 1 percentage point from the previous deal, and provide substantial raises for minimum-salary players.
The NFLPA’s board of representatives met Friday but decided not to vote on the proposal. Its executive committee voted 6-5 not to recommend the proposed CBA that it had helped negotiate over 10 months.
At issue is that an extra regular-season game would expose players to a greater risk of injury. Owners have claimed in recent years — to the skepticism of some players — that player safety is a top concern.
Asked whether the labor uncertainty colored his conversations with agents, Pace said he hadn’t felt that at all.
The owners said in a statement last week that they would move forward under the final year of the current CBA if a new deal isn’t reached this week. A new CBA would raise the salary cap this season, which would be a bonus for a team such as the Bears, who figure to be tight up against it.
