Reports: Sides make progress on rookie contracts

Times wires
Thursday, July 14, 2011

NEW YORK — Players and owners made significant progress Thursday on rookie contracts, according to various media reports. The issue has been a major stumbling block in the latest round of labor talks.

ESPN reported that the sides agreed in principle to a new rookie wage system. The owners will have an option for a fifth year on a rookie contract for a predetermined amount based on the player's performance during the previous years of the deal, the Associated Press reported.

Owners and players were in their second straight day of negotiations, trying to resolve the impasse that has shut down the league for four months. They were expected to meet again today.

The NFL locked out players in March after negotiations broke down and the old collective bargaining agreement expired.

The Hall of Fame Game that opens the preseason is scheduled for Aug. 7 between the Rams and Bears, who hope to be able to start training camp at the end of next week. Camps will not open without a new labor deal in place.

Even once a deal in principle is drawn up, more will need to be done. That's because certain issues won't be addressed in full until after the players association re-establishes itself as a union — that might take a couple of days — and can then serve again as a collective bargaining unit for the players.

Items that could fall under that umbrella include the league's drug-testing program, health insurance and retired players' pensions, none of which is likely to be resolved completely while the union is dissolved.

A group of retired players has sent the NFL a letter asking to be part of the negotiations. The retired players say the disbanded union does not have the right to negotiate for them.

Writer advises Harrison: The writer of the controversial James Harrison article for Men's Journal told the Steelers linebacker to do whatever he needs to do to make peace with his quarterback, whom Harrison criticized along with numerous others, including commissioner Roger Goodell. "Look, James is the guy who's got to live with Ben (Roethlisberger) for the next three years. … So as I told James, 'Listen, whatever you've got to say to mend fences is perfectly fine with me,' " Paul Solotaroff told ESPN radio.

Harrison, in a statement Thursday, apologized "for some of the words" he said he used during the interview for the article. He said the critical comments about Roethlisberger and other teammates were taken out of context, and a gay slur about Goodell was a "careless use" of slang and not intended to be derogatory against gays.

Source: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/reports-sides-make-progress-on-rookie-contracts/1180602

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