The NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement: Week 4

September 16, 2007

Back again, with yet another installment of “The NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement & You!”. This week, the biggest (or possibly second biggest) story in the NFL is the injury to Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett (latest update on Kevin’s status here). Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that Everett is able to play football again. What kind of money would the NFL pay him while he was injured? Article XII of the CBA, entitled Injury Protection, sheds some light on this question. [Ed. Note: I was going to look at pensions, since it appears to be a popular topic, but it appears that it covers multiple sections, and there is a lot of "incorporation by reference", which is never helpful when you need to know information]. Anyway, I will go through the section, as per the usual method below:

Section 1. Qualification: A player qualifying under the following criteria will receive an injury protection benefit in accordance with Section 2 below:

(a) The player must have been physically unable, because of a severe football injury in an NFL game or practice, to participate in all or part of his Club’s last game of the season of injury, as certified by the Club physician following a physical examination after the last game; or the player must have undergone Club authorized surgery in the off-season following the season of injury; and

(b) The player must have undergone whatever reasonable and customary rehabilitation treatment his Club required of him during the off-season following the season of injury; and

(c) The player must have failed the pre-season physical examination given by the Club physician for the season following the season of injury because of such injury and as a result his Club must have terminated his contract for the season following the season of injury. This pre-season physical may be given by the Club physician prior to the beginning of pre-season camp, so long as such fact is clearly communicated to the player at the time of the physical exam. The past understanding of the parties concerning a Club releasing a player who otherwise qualifies under (a) and (b) above prior to the pre-season physical examination will apply during the term of this Agreement (see Appendix B).

This first section outlines the criteria that must be met in order for the section to apply to a player. Namely, that the player must be unable to play in his team’s last game of the season (as determined by the team physician) or he must have had team authorized off-season surgery AND he must undergo any reasonable and customary rehabilitation measures AND he must also fail the preseason physical for the next league year (because of the injury) and have his contract terminated as a result of the injury. [NOTE: the reference to Appendix B deals with a club not being able to evade "injury protection" by waiving a player before the preseason begins. Appendix B can be found here.]

Section 2. Benefit: A player qualifying under Section 1 above will receive an amount equal to 50% of his contract salary for the season following the season of injury, up to a maximum payment of $275,000, if he is released pursuant to Section 1(c) above in the 2006-08 League Years unless he has individually negotiated more injury protection or a larger guaranteed salary into his contract. This amount shall be increased to $300,000 in the 2009 League Year and, if they are Uncapped Years, in the 2010-11 League Years; to $325,000 in the 2010-11 League Years, if they are Capped Years; and to $350,000 in the 2012 League Year. A player
will receive no amount of any contract covering any season subsequent to the season following the season of injury, except if he has individually negotiated injury protection into that contract. The benefit will be paid to the player in equal weekly installments commencing no later than the date of the first regular season game, which benefit payments will cease if the player signs a contract for that season with another Club. A player will not be entitled to such benefit more than once during his playing career in the NFL, and such benefit shall be
reduced by any salary guaranteed to the player for the season following the season of injury.

Section 2 deals with the particular benefits a player will get, assuming they meet the qualifications in the section above. As stated, a player can receive 50% of their contract up to a maximum value of $275,000, if he is released pursuant to section 1 and he has not negotiated for an injury protection increase. These monies can only be received during the subsequent season after a player’s injury and injury protection can only be utilized once during a player’s career.

Section 3. Disputes: Any dispute under this Article will be processed under Article IX (Non-Injury Grievance). In any grievance in which the NFLPA or a player is claiming an injury protection benefit, the NFLPA or the player may contend that the player should not have passed the preseason physical examination given by a Club following the season of a player’s injury. In any such grievance, the NFLPA or the player may introduce evidence from a physician selected by and paid for by the player regarding the player’s physical condition at the time of the Club’s preseason physical exam, provided that such physician conducted his examination of the player within fourteen days of the player’s contract termination, but no later than the date of the first preseason cutdown. Any such evidence will be considered with the evidence from the Club physician, and the arbitrator shall give no special deference to the evidence presented by either physician. If the NFLPA prevails in such a grievance, then the requirements of Section 1(c) above shall be deemed to have been satisfied.

This section is pretty self-explanatory. In any grievance, the player or the NFLPA may contend that the player should (or should not) have passed the administered physical and either party may also introduce evidence from a physician to try and bolster their case.

So, back to Kevin Everett for a minute…He is in the last 2 years of a 4 year contract. He was scheduled to make $460,000 in 2008, and assuming that he will meet the criteria in section 1, he would receive 50% of his salary ($230,000) during the 2008 NFL regular season.

The rest of the NFL CBA can be found here.