NFLPA doesn’t care if league dies out in 20 years?

NFLPA president Eric Winston recently stated that he doesn’t care in the NFL dies out in twenty years. Is this real or just a hard-line CBA negotiating stance?

The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFLPA expires in 2021.  So the political posturing on both sides is ramping up in expectation of the impending negotiations.  Here is what Eric Winston said:

"“Honestly, I don’t care, and I don’t think the guys in this locker room care whether [the NFL] is going to be around in 20 years because none of us are going to be playing,” Winston, an offensive tackle for the Bengals, told WCPO. “So if these guys [the owners] want to own for a long time, then they can own for a long time. But another work stoppage might kill the golden goose.”"

The current state of the CBA seems to favor the owners more than the players.  But with NBA players contracts skyrocketing through the stratosphere, NFL players are asking why not us?

The answer to the question is obvious.  The NBA has less players than the NFL, so there’s more money to pay them.  However, logic shouldn’t stop the NFL players from trying to get more.

The players have to ask for more money, that’s just the nature of the beast.  There’s no harm in asking for more money.  Who doesn’t want to maximize their earnings?  But does the NFLPA really not care about the future existence of the league?

I don’t think Eric Winston and the NFLPA doesn’t care if the NFL is around in twenty years.  I think this is a hard-line negotiating tactic by the NFLPA to try to scare the owners.  To send a message to owners that they are willing to go to extremes to get what they want.

We’ll have to see how successful this tactic is.  But I believe there will be an NFL in twenty years because the owners will find someone to play for what they are willing to pay.  It won’t be NBA money but NFL players will be well paid regardless.

I wish the players luck in getting as much as they can.  But they’re doing themselves no favors in the eyes of some fans when they make it seem as though they’re ready to see the league die if they don’t get what they want.

Next: Dede Westbrook pushing Allen Hurns out of Jacksonville?

And it’s not the NFLPA who will decide whether the NFL exists in twenty years, it will be the fans.  As long as there’s a demand for professional football from the people who consume it, there will be a group of owners who will supply it with players getting paid for playing the game.