Union says NFL can’t afford lockout

CINCINNATI» Players union president Eric Winston said the NFL can’t afford another lockout when the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2021, even though he thinks it’s inevitable.

The Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman tweeted Tuesday that if the league locks out players as it did in 2011, or overlooks the health risks to players, then “they have signaled that they are not worried about the game in 20 to 30 years.”

Winston told a Cincinnati-area television station on Monday that he thinks another lockout is inevitable and that it will “kill the goose that laid the golden egg.” He said the union is getting the younger players educated about the issues.

“These rookies that are here now are going to be in the middle of that,” he told WCPO-TV. “They need to understand what they’re getting into, what they need to prepare for. We have to prepare for that outcome because that’s what happened the last time.”

As for veteran players, Winston said, “Honestly, I don’t care and I don’t think the guys in this locker room care whether this thing’s going to be around in 20 years because none of us are going to be playing.”

The league locked out players in March 2011 after the previous collective bargaining agreement expired. The lockout extended through the summer, with players working out on their own. The Hall of Fame game was called off for the first time in 45 years.

In late July that year, they reached agreement on a 10-year deal that included changes suggested by both sides.

The owners got a higher percentage of revenues — 53 percent, a slight increase from the previous deal — and a system for controlling the amount of money paid to draft picks. Players were pleased that teams agreed to spend nearly all of their salary cap space in cash. They also got concessions on offseason and in-season practice rules.

DeMaurice Smith, the union’s executive director, said last week that “the likelihood of either a strike or a lockout is almost a virtual certainty.”

Speaking at a fan forum hosted by the Detroit Lions, commissioner Roger Goodell said he hopes the two sides can come to an agreement before a work stoppage.

“I think projections of whether there’s going to be a work stoppage are really not the point,” Goodell said. “The point should be let’s sit down and figure out our differences and get it solved and do what’s right for our fans and the game and try to make this an even more popular game collectively. And that’s what I hope will happen.”

Winston, 33, said the union is preparing its players for another prolonged labor dispute.

Smith, when asked about Winston’s comments during an interview Tuesday with ESPN’s Outside the Lines, said the veteran offensive lineman is “a person who understands the frame and business of football.”

“The owners locked us out the last time,” Smith said. “They took the decision to make sure that people didn’t have a place to work. They cut off the insurance to our families. They wanted to force an 18-game schedule. What are you supposed to do? Fight back, right?”

Winston is a 12-year veteran and has been the NFLPA’s president since March 2014. He believes there are “always going to be issues between labor and management,” but also said that a work stoppage will be the “inevitable outcome” unless serious progress is made in negotiations.

The NFLPA has clashed in recent years with the NFL over player discipline in such highprofile cases as Adrian Peterson’s suspension for child abuse, Tom Brady’s Deflategate suspension and, most recently, Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension for alleged domestic violence.