What's Next for the NFL?

This past week the current Collective Bargaining Agreement for the NFL expired. Rumors have flied around about the future of the NFL as we know it. Truth be told, it's the end of an era, in many ways. The NFL Players Association decertified as a unit last week, leaving the mediated meetings and a CBA offer from the Owners. The NFLPA did this once before back in 1991, when the Players wanted Free Agency and the Owners were against it. NFLPA decertified, took it to Federal Court and the Judge ruled in favor of the Players. PSG guess is that the Players are following the same yellow brick road to get similar results 20 years later.. And they probably will win the case, however, the only difference here is, the Owners will probably appeal. An appeal in this kind of high economic case is a very long process. This will severely affect the Draft this year and how teams approach the Draft. For teams like the Colts, Patriots, and Steelers etc. it wont have as much affect because they build through Drafting. But teams like the Cowboys, Redskins, Eagles, and Jets etc. it will greatly affect the way the approach the Draft. Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks made over 75 transactions before the Draft last year, and they ended up winning a playoff game, all those transactions will not happen for any team this year. The rule is now that coaches and players can't contact each other at all during the lockout. If a coach has any kind of contact with a player it can result in the coach being fired. Opinions of the NFL all around the country are probably less then what they were right after the Packers completed a dream season a month ago. The NFL is by far thbe most popular sport in this country right now. So fans might not abandon their teams like they did for Baseball in 1994. No season means no money, and no Super Bowl for teams built to win right now, this is the worst, teams that have a lot of players over 30, or teams trying to progress a young Quarterback will suffer greatly if, and that is a big if, there is no season in 2011. The NFL has the ability and resources to miss a season and not skip a beat financially. However some fans may not feel that way. What to do on Sundays when Peyton Manning does not travel to Foxboro? Or Baltimore and Pittsburgh meet for yet another blood bath? Its almost a forgone conclusion that there will be an 18 game schedule. Many fans are against it, because of injuries, records, and ticket prices. But it's either 2 extra games, or no games at all. My guess is 99.9% of fans will learn to love 18 games. There will be a 19 week schedule, 2 bye weeks for each team, 5 extra roster spots (going from 53 to 58), and an increase in player salaries. Every player and their mother wants a rookie wage scale so that is not really that big of an issue. The $9 billion question is will there be an NFL season at all in 2011? ...... At all? yes. On time? Probably not. But in a world where expecting the unexpected is necessary, you just truly do not know, in this case, what the unexpected is. Tune in Friday at 6pm to the Philly Sports Guys to hear more on this issue.