The 28M award to the retired players in the jury verdict against the NFLPA is still resonating in labor law circles, both in football and beyond.  Many are wondering how such a stunning result for the players could happen in light of the fact there is no legal obligation by the NFLPA to provide any licensing income to retired players.  Although the union lawyers downplayed its significance, the email messages from the union to EA Sports directing them to scramble images of retired players in their “vintage” games was certainly damning evidence. 

Beyond the facts of the case, the attorneys for the retired group of players were able to evoke a strong visceral reaction to the disparity of income of the two sides: on one side of the case was the union representing wealthy and healthy active players; on the other side were a group of old players that paved the way for the current riches in the league, with some having physical or mental issues to boot.  Perhaps the biggest mistake was allowing the case to be heard in front of a jury to begin with.  The appellate process now begins (with the clock running on the legal bills) as the NFLPA hopes it does not have to dip into its 121M strike fund to, at some point, pay out on this verdict.

Interestingly, the NFLPA Professional Athletes Foundation board passed a measure last week to re-name the Player Assistance Trust Fund to honor the memory of the late Executive Director Gene Upshaw.  The fund – which has distributed almost 7M to players in need of financial, medical and educational assistance – will now be named the Gene Upshaw Player Assistance Trust Fund, a smart measure by the union to both honor Gene and bring attention to the fact that they are – to some degree – helping the retired players….

Amid the haze of the exhilarating win by the Jets over the Patriots last Thursday night was the stellar play of Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel, another game in a series of solid performances from a player the Patriots had faith in from the day they lost Tom Brady (remember the immediate cry from pundits for the Patriots to sign one of the veteran quarterbacks waiting for a call?).  Now comes the discussion of Cassel and the future.

Cassel, as a seventh-round pick, negotiated a four-year deal in 2005.  It had become common practice by then for many teams, Patriots included, to negotiate four-year contracts with all draft picks past the first round (2005 was the last year teams could negotiate five-year deals in the second round; that was reduced to four-year maximum lengths in the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement).  Thus, Cassel’s contract runs out this year, completing the final year of his rookie deal. 

There has been some debate since Thursday as to his worth, factoring in recent deals by Aaron Rodgers, Derek Anderson, David Garrard, Tony Romo and a certain deal to come for Jason Campbell.   That, of course, assumes that Cassel hits the market for unrestricted free agency in March.  Certainly, with the lack of quality young quarterbacks ever hitting the marketplace, he could negotiate that level of contract or higher at that time.  Assuming his continued ascending performance in the next two months, however, I would expect that the Patriots would not let him reach unrestricted free agency.

Even with Tom Brady making eight figures, the Patriots would be wise to apply the Franchise Tag to Cassel, a tag price that will be determined in February -- the amount was 10.7M in 2008, likely to be slightly above that in 2009.  The Patriots are currently showing 101M of Cap charges for 2009 with an expected Cap of 123M, so they will have the room to use the tag.

The application of the Franchise Tag, although Cap heavy for the off season, would allow for the following: (1) retention of a quality quarterback while Brady continues his rehabilitation with the team monitoring his progress, (2) no cash outlay of funds until September, allowing cash, if not Cap flexibility, and (3) the ability to listen to trade offers and potentially consummate a trade that could bring players and/or draft picks to the Patriots (at which point a new deal would be made between Cassel and the trading team).

Assuming the Patriots and Cassel could not agree to a contract that would satisfy both parties, there is some real value in placing a tag on Cassel…………

The ongoing saga of the sale of one of the game’s most iconic and venerable franchises, the Steelers, appears to be reaching a conclusion that most, if not all parties will be happy with.  With Dan Rooney’s improved offer appearing to satisfy his four brothers, the transaction appears to be headed for approval.  With Rooney remaining as the principal owner, that has always been the preferred choice for the membership of the NFL, as the dramatic fear would have been removing Rooney from control of the team.

Having rebuffed a larger offer from Pittsburgh billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller earlier in the year, there were not a lot of suitors coming forward, especially in the present financial environment.  With former Commissioner Tagliabue helping the league and Dan Rooney sort through the web of issues in this case – the lack of a 30% majority owner, as required by the league, the gambling interests in racetracks in Florida – the hope is that this all gets sorted out prior to a league meeting in December.

Although Goldman-Sachs estimated the value of the team at around 1B, as did the Forbes rankings, those estimates were before the turmoil of the present economy.  Rooney’s present bid would buy out the four remaining brothers 64%.  The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported on its Web site Friday night in a story about the probable deal with a price to the brothers of 750M. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported a price of 800M.

Either way, the soap opera-like story full of feuding brothers, racetracks, a venerable owner, an iconic franchise, a billionaire suitor, and a watchful league is nearing its final episode.  We think.