FanPost

If I were an Owner, and the lockout is lifted


Here is what I would work to do as a league. 

The first order of business is to come up with a framework for the 2011 calendar year that the league would play under. Things like restricted free agency, franchise tags, salary caps would all be illegal under labor laws as they would limit the players ability to get the best wage for his services.

However, there are many things the league could do to force the players back to the negotiating table that would not fall under the same scrutiny. Now let me preface this by saying that this is not what we want, but its a necessary step to get the players back to understanding their place in the league.

1) Cap rosters at 53 players - Even during training camp and the offseason. This would eliminate many of the free agents from the workforce without singling any of them out. A player can't argue that he was unfairly treated just because he wasn't good enough. This will eliminate 864 (out of 2560) available jobs.

2) Eliminate the practice squad and IR - Again, the goal is to limit the amount of players that have jobs. This will force the players association to get back to honest negotiations.

3) Eliminate all mandatory benefits, insurance, pensions etc... from all new contracts. Here teams need to be careful to act completely independently. Maybe the big markets keep paying them knowing they can afford to. But the small markets cut everything they can.

4) Cancel all offseason conditioning and workout programs and close down all facilities. If  players want to work out, make them do it on their own. This way, if they get injured, it's not covered under their contract. Be prepared to pay any existing offseason workout bonuses as long as the player can prove he was working out during the time he was supposed to. 

5) Do not allow coaches to have any contact with players until 2 weeks before the first preseason game. The purpose of this is to ensure that star players will be forced into playing all 4 preseason games and the games will be more meaningful as coaches try to ensure their team is ready for the regular season.

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