By Mark Maske
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; 5:09 PM
Talks between the NFL and its players' union on an extension of the sport's collective bargaining agreement broke down today without a settlement that would keep the league's salary-cap system in place beyond next season.
A participant in the talks said that Players Association chief Gene Upshaw left a negotiating meeting this afternoon in
Executives from NFL teams and agents were abuzz in recent days with speculation that a settlement between the league and the union was imminent or was tentatively in place. But Upshaw said Monday as he traveled to
Tagliabue also has been unable to get the owners to agree to a plan to increase the degree to which the teams share locally generated revenues. Upshaw said Monday that the labor and revenue-sharing deals would have to come simultaneously. The owners are scheduled to meet Monday and Tuesday in
The players have an executive board meeting scheduled for next week in
The current labor deal keeps the salary-cap system in place through next season, then expires after a 2007 season that would be played without a salary cap. Upshaw has said he doesn't intend to postpone Friday's opening of the free agent market and it would become increasingly difficult to complete a labor deal once the market opens, given that the players at that point would be on the verge of reaching a season without a salary cap. Upshaw also has said that if the league plays a season without a salary cap, he doesn't envision a cap ever returning.
Teams had been hopeful that a labor extension would be completed this week to ease the salary-cap crunches that many clubs are facing. Without an extension, many teams would have to release players Thursday to get under a salary cap projected to be about $96 million per club next season. With a labor extension, the cap probably would be about $10 million per team higher.
© 2006 Washingtonpost
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