A financial domino has fallen as the NFL and NFLPA try and prepare for what they hope will be a 2020 season.
Owners have informed players they would like for 35% of their salaries to be held in escrow because of the possible impact of COVID-19, reported Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The funds would aid in managing costs during the 2020 season.
This marks the second issue of the day as NFLPA president JC Tretter earlier wrote in a blog post that the league “is unwilling to prioritize player safety and believes that the virus will bend to football.”
The NFL sought to cut the 2020 preseason in half, from four games to two games, and create a 23-day acclimatization period in training camp to account for the likelihood that players will report to training camp less prepared for football after an entirely virtual offseason program. The NFLPA objected privately to that plan, which the NFL has not announced publicly, and its board of player representatives voted last week to endorse a plan with no preseason games.
According to Tretter, the NFL has not provided a medical reason for insisting on two preseason games. “Every decision this year that prioritizes normalcy over innovation, custom over science or even football over health, significantly reduces our chances of completing the full season,” Tretter wrote.
