Labor Deal Could Be Bad News For The Packers » Brats & Beer

May 20, 2008
posted under: CBA, Packers

Now that the NFL owners have gone and opted out of the final two years of their collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union, I’m feeling a little like Charlton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes looking up at the ruin of the Statue of Liberty. “You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you. God damn you all to Hell!”

Okay, maybe I’m over-reacting just a little, but you have to admit the CBA has been pretty good for small market teams like the Green Bay Packers. The salary cap has kept billionaire owners like Jerry Jones from cornering the market on talent and revenue sharing has helped prop up the bottom line during lean years. Thank goodness the team has more than $100 million socked away in a mattress someplace because Bob Harlan was afraid this might happen.

The vote by owners was a unanimous 32-0, meaning Packers CEO Mark Murphy voted with everyone else to void the final two years of the labor pact. Maybe he and the other small market teams were convinced they needed to put up a united front against the NFLPA, but I’ll be interested to hear his reasoning for how this will be good for the team in the long run.

On the upside, though, Green Bay has actually been paying into the revenue sharing scheme the past several years thanks to the solid support from fans and appearances on prime-time TV, and Ted Thompson has proven he’ll always try to get the most talent for the least amount of money. But longer term, I worry how the Packers will be able to compete and survive in the league without those provisions of the CBA in place.