NFL Lockout Faces Major Issue

by terah on 19. Jul, 2011 in Featured

There is one major issue that the NFL and the Players Association must settle before the NFL lockout is over, it’s the Brady vs. NFL antitrust case.

There are ten plaintiffs that are apart of this antitrust case and five players that would receive compensation if there is to be any settlement: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Logan Mankins, Vincent Jackson, Drew Brees.

Three of the players (Brady, Manning, & Brees) shouldn’t be an issue to deal with and overcome, but Jackson & Mankins have some demands that the NFL is struggling with and could prove to be a big hurdle to overcome.

They want to either become unrestricted free agents, receive $10 million in the settlement, and/or not be franchised by the respective teams when the lockout is over.

It seems a “little hard to imagine” that two players would hold up the entire league from beginning play, but neither of those two players are satisfied with the case so far. There are side deals in place to satisfy other parties in the case, and once all parties can be satisfied, there should be a global settlement in front of the players and the owners by Thursday.

The court still has jurisdiction in the case.

Manning and Brees are both seeking to avoid the franchise tag, which would make Peyton a unrestricted free agent this year, and Brees a unrestricted free agent next year.

The players (Jackson & Mankins) could opt out of the anti-trust suit and it would stay alive in federal court, but the problem becomes a little guy fighting the NFL with their own budget and very little motivation to get it settled anytime soon.