Anyone else feeling a sense of calm this morning? 31 NFL teams are all disappointed, and just the Green Bay Packers are happy.
So here on Day 1 of the 2011 offseason what are our general thoughts?
First and foremost has to be the CBA, because without that there won’t even be football. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little concerned. There isn’t much time until the March 3rd expiration of the current CBA, and if they get there without a new deal this could drag on for a long time.
The reason I’m worried is that the NFL has grown fond of orwellian language like “enhanced season” and signs like that generally point to them being set on what they want out of this next CBA. The commissioner continues to tell the world that fans want an 18 game season, but every educated fan I’ve heard from is against it. The fans and bloggers I’ve talked to are almost universally in favor of the players.
The NFL’s negotiating tactics and gasp, propaganda, are worrisome, but ultimately there’s too much money at stake for this to go too badly wrong. I hope. Otherwise the game could be severely set back.
So we’ll see how it all plays out in the next few weeks.
If we do get a new CBA there will be a mad scramble as everyone figures out the new rules for Free Agency. Players like Logan Mankins could be largely effected.
The draft however should stay largely the same, though the pay structure for rookies may not.
This should be one of the most interesting off-seasons for NFL fans in a long time. The game is going to change, perhaps just slightly, or perhaps entirely (if we see a lockout). Either way I expect the Patriots to be ready to take advantage however they can.
