NFLPA director defends new CBA in open letter to players

Hours before NFL players voted to ratify the owner-approved collective bargaining agreement, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith broke his silence to defend the deal.

In an open letter to players, Smith offered a detailed explanation of what he believes are the merits of the new CBA.

Some high-profile stars such as Aaron Rodgers had criticized the decision to sign off on a 17th regular-season game and an expanded playoff field without more compensation, like a 50-50 revenue split.

However, Smith backed the compromises made by the labor organization, saying "there will always be issues that are more or less important to some members than others."

"It is our job and duty to produce the best options for our members," he wrote. "It is also my personal choice to be brutally honest with you about the decisions we have to make and the profound difficulty inherent in making them.

"Here is the truth: we will have an annual player payroll in salaries and benefits of about $8 billion next year. To put that amount into perspective, that is double the entire revenue of the NHL and nearly the entire NBA. Our benefits package each year for this proposed deal is projected to start at nearly $45 million per team."

Smith also lauded the increased "democratic involvement of our members" and the NFLPA's previous fights against the league on issues such as player discipline and the "Bountygate" scandal.

Additionally, the executive director pushed back against the argument that players aren't properly utilizing the leverage they have in agreeing to more games.

"Owners who possess and control billions of assets are undeniably overall richer than we are, will be in the business longer than every player will be and can absorb economic downturns better than our collective body," Smith wrote. "Owners have historically utilized every economic downturn as an opportunity to leverage their position against us, except for this past CBA.

"That is why I believe that the structure of this deal and the gains of this deal at this time best insulates us from those disproportionate impacts that might occur in five years, or those that manifested in the past 48 hours, which included the suspension of active sports leagues across the country, a travel ban, and a declaration of a national emergency."

One player who opposes the proposed CBA, soon-to-be Carolina Panthers left tackle Russell Okung, filed a complaint against Smith on Monday to the National Labor Relations Board.

In his complaint, the veteran accused the NFLPA of negotiating in bad faith and said Smith overrode the executive committee - of which Okung is a member - to push the owners' proposed CBA forward.

The new CBA will go into effect immediately and run through the end of the 2030 season.