Outgoing Foxworth stands by 2011 labor deal
Union leader says players are better off
The outgoing presi- dent of the NFL Players Association didn’t need a record salary cap and resurgent free agent market to convince him he could take a parting shot at critics of the 3-year-old collective bargaining agreement.
“The people who want to snipe and challenge from the outside — (expletive) them,” Domonique Foxworth told USA TODAY Sports on Monday at the union’s annual meetings. “That’s genuinely how I feel. I’ll stand and debate the merits of this deal with anybody.”
The meetings began Saturday, four days after the launch of a free agent period in which NFL teams, by the NFLPA’s count, had handed out nearly $700 million in guarantees as of Monday morning, thanks in part to a salary cap that spiked to $133 million a team.
But Foxworth and other union leaders have remained cautious about altering the message they have used all along: That the agreement they negotiated with owners in 2011, ending a 4½month lockout, was about more than money.
“When we saw the growth in the cap, were we happy for our players? Yes,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said. “But we didn’t structure a salarycap deal. We structured a collective bargaining agreement that addresses wages, benefits and working conditions.”
It included minimum cash spending limits, which kicked in on a team-by-team basis over a four-year rolling average of 89% last year.
Teams such as the Oakland Raiders, whose spending was low in 2013 as they cleaned up their salary cap, must make up for it or pay a penalty later.
That might help explain why the second wave of free agency seemed to come more quickly — and more expensively for owners — than a year ago, when the cap rose less than 2% to $123 million and criticism intensified of players’ take from the NFL’s record revenue.
“When there’s a floor on the cash you can spend, that puts the money into the players’ hands,” free agent safety Ryan Clark said. “Everybody makes snap judgments. It’s a microwave society. But I think it’s good that it’s coming around and guys are getting the deals that they want.”
It’s personal for Foxworth, 30, who was part of the executive committee that had to pick up the pieces after former NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw’s death in August 2008. Foxworth flew from city to city on off days during the season to interview potential replacements.
Players elected Smith in March 2009 and were locked out two years later. They knew they had taken a short-term financial hit but were convinced eliminating owners’ expense credit in exchange for a set share of TV deals (55%), league properties (45%) and local revenue (40%) would pay dividends down the line.
Foxworth said there wasn’t one part of the deal he wouldn’t stand behind.
“Obviously, there are things that I wish were better. But the financial deals are strong,” said Foxworth, who played for the Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens during a seven-year NFL career. “We’ve changed the work conditions.”
Foxworth pointed to improved working conditions (no two-adays, 14 padded practices in season, shorter offseason program) and post-career initiatives, including The Trust player transition program, as other aspects he was proud of.
“Every portion of a player’s life we’ve addressed in this deal. I’m very proud of it,” Foxworth said. “You got a problem with it? (Expletive) you.”