NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith encouraged agents to ‘collude’ on contract offers in an effort to prevent teams from limiting salaries due to the league’s reduced cap space in 2021, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Smith reportedly told the agents to expect the 2021 season’s cap to be close to a $180 million “floor,” per Graziano. The NFL and NFLPA negotiated these terms, and the caps for 2022 and 2023 are also expected to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to revenue losses.
Smith encouraged agents to push back on teams cutting their players for cap purposes and to consult one another (and the NFLPA’s cap department) about free-agency offers, per Graziano. The executive director then took it a step further, saying it’s alright for agents to “collude” during free agency for the best possible deals.
The NFL and NFLPA are still working on the final figure for the cap floor, which will reportedly depend on the new TV contracts the NFL is negotiating. Smith did say during the videoconference that he expects it to be much lower than this past season’s $198.2 million.
Smith also noted the 2021 offseason program will be collectively bargained between the NFL and the union, per Graziano. Last year’s OTAs and minicamps were held virtually.
