NFL Notes: Salary Cap, Rosters, Opt-Outs

Salary Cap

• Tom Pelissero reports that the proposal being discussed by the NFL and NFLPA would spread the impact of any revenue shortfall in 2020 over four years.
• The proposal calls for a 2021 salary cap of at least $175 million with no changes made to the 2020 cap, despite owners’ proposals.
• Albert Breer adds that the new financial proposal is up from the NFL’s previous offer of $165 million.
• Mike Garafolo mentions that while next year’s salary cap would be no lower than $175 million, it’s still possible it could be higher if revenues are better than expected. Conversely, should things be worse than anticipated, it would have to be accounted for in future years through 2024. Either way, establishing a cap minimum was important to the players.
• NFL owners are trying to close the deal on economics before players get into facilities starting this weekend and have dropped their request for an $8 million salary cap reduction in 2020. (Tom Pelissero)
• According to Ian Rapoport, it sounds like owners would not be on the hook for entirely guaranteed base salaries if the 2020 season was halted. Instead, Rapoport says it would be more of a “pay-as-you-go model”  in terms of guarantees. 

Rosters

• According to Chris Mortensen, the NFL and NFLPA are discussing a proposal that would reduce 90-man rosters to 80 players around three weeks into training camp and just before padded practices begin.
• Mortensen adds that the 80-man roster deadline is Aug. 16 before padded practice but teams can have a 90-man roster if they go with a split-squad set-up. Some teams are reportedly planning to have split squads and use both their stadium and regular practice facilities.
• Mike Florio reports that “plenty of players have bristled at the efforts of the NFL Players Association to cut training-camp rosters from 90 to 80.”
• A source tells Florio that some members of the union want 88 players on the training-camp roster with the roster being broken down into groups of 22 players.
• The union, however, is pushing for four groups of 20, as they believe the extra bodies in camp will make it harder to limit the spread of the virus.

Opt-Outs

Mark Maske reports that NFL owners have ratified a two-tiered opt-out plan on Friday that will allow players to opt-out by a certain date with a stipend for the year. There also is a medically supported plan for high-risk players.

• Jeremy Fowler reports that the language in the opt-out clause will be crucial, considering that many players have asked a number of questions related to opt-outs on union conference calls.
• A source tells Fowler that “a lot of guys don’t want to play.” However, he says this doesn’t necessarily mean they will act on it, especially if accrued seasons are in jeopardy.
• Josina Anderson is told high-risk players would receive a $300,000 stipend for opting out while others would get $150,000.