Roger Goodell reveals no CBA talks have been planned

The current collective bargaining agreement runs through 2030, leaving plenty of time for negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA to take place on several issues. Commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear when speaking at the recent owners meetings an effort to begin serious talks on the next CBA are not lined up.

“There are no formal plans on any discussions,” Goodell said (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio). “We obviously continue to be in close communication with the union on a variety of matters, but no start of negotiations have been set or are under consideration really at this point.”

Goodell has made no secret about the league’s key goals for the next CBA. Expansion to an 18-game regular season is among them, although the players association as expected, is not looking to agree to that without significant concessions being made. Increasing the NFL’s international footprint is also high on the agenda. Staging as many as 16 regular-season games outside the United States annually within the next five years was named as a target by Goodell this week.

Goodell said he and the owners spoke “at length” about two key matters. The first was the salary cap, and the second was the ongoing spike in costs with respect to owning and operating NFL franchises. The cap ceiling was $120.4M when the 2011 CBA was signed; that figure stands at $279.2MM for the coming campaign. Further surges are expected in the near future once the newest round of media rights deals are agreed to.

With the cost of roster building continuing to increase and franchise values spiking, a number of teams have turned to private equity funds for an infusion of cash. Stakes of up to 10% in NFL teams recently became permissible, and a small list of equity firms are in a position to take on a non-controlling share in franchises. It would come as no surprise if the trend of such transactions continued over the coming years.

In the meantime, owners will look into measures related to the salary cap and operating expenses (which will no doubt include, crucially, the share of revenue between the league and the PA). Goodell noted no discussions about expanding the schedule took place this week in Minneapolis, but that topic can be expected to remain a point of emphasis moving forward. When a strong push to open up CBA talks is made, it will be interesting to see how the NFLPA responds.