NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has called for a new collective bargaining agreement between the league's owners and NFL Players Association before the start of the 2019 regular season, and WJZ sports director Mark Viviano believes any negotiations could revisit the league's salary structure.
The current CBA is set to expire after the 2020 season, but Goodell has made it clear he does not want to wait until next year to strike a new deal with the players. The current CBA, ratified in 2011, did the following:
- Raised the hard salary cap
- Imposed limits on contact during practices
- Eliminated two-a-day practices
- Arranged rookie salary scales
With a new CBA looming, how players on rookie deals are being compensated is again an issue, with some key players believing they should be paid based on their performance, not service time. Across the league, some players on rookie contracts have held out of training camp, meaning they will not participate in any team activities in hopes that it drives teams to give them the contract they desire.
