Count Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt as one of the current players not on board with the proposed changes to the new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA.
The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year took to Twitter on Thursday to express his displeasure after reports surfaced that the NFL had ratified changes to the new CBA, one of which included a 17th game and how the game checks would be split given that a majority of the contracts for 2020 players are under a 16-game system.
Watt definitely isn’t alone. Green Bay Packers tackle David Bakhtiari had to spell it out for NFL insiders on Thursday, but his one-liner to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport summed up the feeling of players.
If the new CBA isn’t approved by the NFLPA, then the current CBA, the one ratified in 2011, will still in effect. As a result, all 32 NFL teams will have the transition and franchise tags available to use concurrently. When the new CBA is agreed upon by both the league and the players union, the status quo of a team only being able to use one of those two tags will apply.
Given that Watt doesn’t like the changes, and other players are even more vocal about it, the ratification of a new CBA may take longer than expected.
