CBS Sports said:
Is this really a good idea? Personally, I think this has a HUGE potential to backfire on the players. First, there is the legality of it. None of these college players are members or ever were members of the now decertified NFLPA. Essentially, what they are planning on doing, is to tamper with business that doesn't actually concern them. The NFL owners are gaining ammunition to use in court, they will argue that not only were the players not bargaining in good faith, but now are obstructing NFL business that is unrelated to the CBA. I am sure that will not look good in court. I don't know if its actually illegal or not, but I think it helps the owners' claim that the players never intended to bargain, and planned to sue the NFL all along.
I understand why the former NFLPA might think this is a good idea, and when you look at it in the short term, it might make sense. But when I look at it through long-term glasses, I think this is a huge mistake. The longer the lockout happens, the more leverage swings to the owners. They can survive without NFL paychecks a LOT longer than the players can. As time goes by, I think everyone pretty much knows that whatever advantage the players have disappears. The owners all have real jobs. The NFL players are JUST NFL players. If the NFL and former NFLPA can't reach an agreement, the owners can last a lot longer. So, if you are a player, why would you do something that will certainly make the situation worse? Will this bring the players and the owners closer together, or will it pull them farther apart? Someone like Tom Brady, Drew Brees or Peyton Manning can survive a year without football, but what about the players who don't make 10 million bucks a year? What about the backup linemen, the punter, the fullbacks? What about the guys who make the NFL minimum? All you did was hurt them even more financially by making it much harder to come to a compromise with the owners.
Tactically, I think trying to get to the college students is a mistake. They may win the battle, but the players will lose the war. At some point, the owners and players are going to have to agree to something...why would you add to the divisiveness of the situation by butting in to the draft? Do you think this is a game, that you can just take back? The owners are going to get payback for fucking with the draft...because THEY have almost all of the real power, not the players. What the former NFLPA is going to do, is piss the owners off, which is going to make them even more stubborn, which means if you want to play football next year, you are going to have to concede even more now. Good job, former NFLPA. You just made the situation worse than it even was, made a deal farther away.
I also think this could backfire in another way. It wouldn't surprise me if the owners lowball the contracts for any player who skips who otherwise would have been in attendance. Both sides in the CBA dispute are in favor of some form of a rookie salary cap, it isn't like the players are fighting for the college player's rights to get 70 million dollar contracts. They are using the college players, taking advantage of their naivety. Once those players have been in the league a few years, and finally understand what the union did, they are going to be pissed off. Those college players are going to most likely be the last group that gets an uncapped draft. They can still get the ridiculous 1st round contracts that won't be allowed next year. But if they skip, they could be missing out on millions and millions of dollars. For what? For being pawns in an argument they have absolutely no voice in yet. College players being drafted are NOT part of the former NFLPA. They don't become a member until they actually sign their contracts.
I dunno. Maybe I am way off base here, but when I heard the news, my first reaction was "WTF are they thinking?"
Thoughts?