The new CBA agreement as ratified by the Owners in Atlanta on July 21 awaits the signature and “yea”-vote of the players…
To a man, the Ravens top brass and the Ravens players seem to agree in principle that the new 10-year deal is a good one for both sides…
Pictured left to right in this file photo are Ravens president Dick Cass, GM Ozzie Newsome, Owner Steve Bisciotti, and Head Coach John Harbaugh…
Dick Cass did most of the commenting for the management team of the Ravens at the Q&A after the vote in Atlanta…
Cass said Baltimore had a “good idea” of what the deal entailed before the meeting began, but they received a much more complete description Thursday.
“The good news is we have approved an agreement that is fair to our fans, fair to our players and fair to the teams,” Cass said. “This gives us the basis to move forward and preserve competitive balance in the league and make the league stronger and better.”
“We’ve managed to get a new CBA without losing any games and for the most part maintaining our schedule. Yes, the offseason has been modified, but the real season begins with training camp and hopefully, subject to the ratification, we will begin training camp next Wednesday, which is when we were actually scheduled to begin it.”
Ravens players seem ready to accept the deal and get on with the business of football.
Before players held their conference call at 8 p.m. Thursday night, Ravens player representative and wide receiver Derrick Mason expected to like the collective bargaining agreement owners had ratified.
“If the owners went through this much and stayed in their meetings this long, obviously I believe that this deal is good for both sides,” Mason said in a live ESPN interview.
After the players didn’t vote on the CBA, Ravens safety Haruki Nakamura spoke with cornerback and NFLPA Executive Committee member Domonique Foxworth, who also said it was “pretty good for both sides,” reports The Carroll County Times.
However, the players are not happy about the pressure they feel from owners to approve the CBA.
“They act like we need to get it done right now at this time. Our player reps are going to go through it with a fine-tooth comb. We need to cross every ‘I’ and dot every ‘T.’ We want to make sure it’s as good a deal for us as possible. … This is kind of like the power move they made at the beginning of the negotiations. … If you’re a good businessman, you would never sign a deal you don’t truly understand.” – Safety Haruki Nakamura
Here’s the good news. According to ESPN, NFLPA leaders say a vote among the 32 player representatives is “likely” Friday.
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