Winston: ’21 lockout inevitable

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 on 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 20-30 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.”

“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.”