The looming expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the NFL Player’s Association (NFLPA) after the 2020 season has begun to creep up on the horizon — much to the chagrin of football fans everywhere. These bargaining agreements can be messy business and there’s always a collective sigh of relief when new deals are struck — avoiding work stoppages and strikes.
Will we miss out on any Miami Dolphins football in 2021 on account of these negotiations? The early returns thankfully suggest that won’t be necessary.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano has reported that the two sides will use the month of July to negotiate on contentious items from either side of the fence. The objective? To apparently reach a new CBA before the start of the 2019 NFL season — with two years to spare. Should the timeline progress in such a fashion, it would be a stunner. A welcomed stunner, but a stunner none the less. With items such as roster size and adding to the regular season schedule likely on the table, there’s no shortage of compromises necessary from either the NFL or the Player’s Association.
To help matters further, this aggressive timeline confirms previous reports from late spring — most notably from Ian Rapoport — that a deal “could be reached before the 2019 season.”
Cross your fingers Dolphins fans. The team will hopefully have some positive momentum in 2021 after two years of a rebuild under their belt — the last thing the team needs is a work stoppage!
