[transplant99]

Still a somewhat big hurdle to cross yet....

"It puts the onus on players to make a decision to agree; paints us into a corner with fans," a high-ranking NFLPA executive committee member said. "We'll discuss tonight but the idea of reconstituting as a union as never been a slam dunk as the owners have already assumed."

Another high-ranking NFLPA official said: "We are not happy here. We had to honor to not vote on an agreement that was not final (Wednesday). This is not over. This actually takes away incentives from players to vote yes tonight."

In an email to the player representatives of the 32 NFL teams, the NFLPA said the NFL's proposed procedure for finalizing a settlement included the following:
• Demands that players re-form as a union and provide evidence by Tuesday, July 26 that a majority of players have signed union authorization cards.
• Requires that the players also vote by Tuesday, July 26 to ratify a proposed CBA that would contain virtually all of the provisions of the old CBA along with the non-CBA items that class counsel and the NFL have agreed to in the Brady mediation.
• Gives the players only three days -- Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week -- to try to bargain any changes to the old CBA. Any such changes would have to be agreed to by the owners in order to be incorporated into the Agreement, which would then become final on Saturday, July 30. If the NFL does not agree to the players' proposed changes, the old CBA terms on benefits, discipline, safety, etc. will remain unchanged for another ten years.