A source with knowledge of the NFL talks told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio on Thursday night that the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement are headed toward a settlement.
The sides have agreed in principle to a rookie wage system, sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter earlier Thursday evening. Since that is no longer an impediment to a deal, the source told Paolantonio, “both sides are intent on working through each issue line by line to get this deal done.”
In the time since the rookie wage system was overcome, the progress has been significant with almost unforeseen momentum, surprising even the participants, another source said.
With the sides working at a frenzied pace, they reached a tentative agreement to make the 2011 salary cap $120 million, a source told ESPN.com NFL senior writer John Clayton.
Since February, the players have been willing to accept a $141 million player cost number — which includes both salaries and benefits paid to players — per team, multiple sources told Clayton. By agreeing to a $120 million cap, the players allow $21 million per team to be in benefits. Now that a cap number has been formed, teams need to determine the minimum cash payroll number, or what teams will be required to spend.
The guaranteed spend forces every team to put up more than 90 percent of the salary cap in cash each season. A couple of weeks ago, the owners talked about having the guaranteed spend number at close to 100 percent of the salary cap, according to sources. That number and percentage could still be adjusted.
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article courtesy of ESPN.com
