Last Thursday the owners voted unanimously to ratify the new CBA agreement by a vote of 31-0. None of the owners voted against the ratification but one team abstained: The Oakland Raiders.
The owners only needed 24 of 32 teams to vote in favor of the new agreement for it to pass, but the hope from their perspective was that of a united front. So any teams who may have had reservations didn’t want to stand out from the rest. But solidarity with the NFL has never been something Al Davis has cared much about.
Raiders’ Chief Executive Amy Trask said the team abstained due to “profound philosophical differences” that were both “football and economic in nature.” She would, of course, not go into any details but bear in mind that Al Davis was a big reason the previous deal was signed in 2006. He was also a close friend of former head of the NFLPA and former Raider great, Gene Upshaw.
The owners successfully ratified the new deal and even got the unanimous vote they wanted. But in the grand scheme of things, Al Davis earned a lot of respect from his players as well as players around the league.
The owners were of the mind that they could sign the new agreement and send it over to the players who would have their pens ready to sign on the dotted line. The players were none too happy about the way things transpired. They said there were issues that were still unresolved and felt that the owners were rushing them to sign. As a result, the players have taken the weekend to look things over and are still working out some details.
Immediately following the news of the owners ratifying the new CBA and the Raiders abstaining from the owners’ vote, several Raider players came out in support of Al Davis.
Rookie Damarcus Van Dyke posted on Twitter “[Retweet] if you think Al Davis is the greatest owner!!!”
Mike Mitchell: “Man I love Mr. Davis trendsetter he never follows the crowd. That’s a true Raider!”
Michael Huff went farther, saying “Al didn’t vote??? And that’s why he’s the man. He plays by his own rules.” And that is coming from a player who has not been offered a new contract and looks to be leaving the team.
Quentin Groves said, “Call him what you want but Al Davis is one of the smartest owners still at age 82.”
Smart is right. It was never his intention to stop the new CBA from being ratified. He didn’t even stand in the way of the vote being unanimous. But he just bought himself a considerable amount of goodwill with the players. The kind of goodwill that will come in handy once players are able to re-sign with their teams.
The Raiders’ prized possession in free agency this season is Zach Miller. He just happens to be the Raiders’ player representative in the negotiations right now. After everything he has heard and seen in the negotiations, it has to carry a lot of weight with him that Al Davis is the one owner who isn’t afraid to stand out and say that he has issues with the new agreement. While we don’t know how much weight it will carry if Miller re-signs with the team, there is no doubt it will enter his mind.
Not only will it help in re-signing his own players, such as Nnamdi Asomugha, but it could just tempt a few outside free agents to pay Oakland a visit.
One of the big detractors in recent years for players joining the Raiders has been the supposed negative environment. It has been seen as nothing short of chaotic to be part of the Raiders. Al has had to line up huge paydays to attract free agents to the team. This gesture could not only make Oakland a more attractive free agent destination, but it could save him a few million dollars in the process.
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