Bracing for the worst: NFL clubs ask employees for pay cuts

Sometimes, its easy to forget that we are in danger of having football change forever in just a short time.  Here we are, in week 3 of what has so far been an incredible NFL season, wondering what is going to happen to our favorite teams.  The NFL and its clubs on the other hand, does have its eyes on the larger picture, and it realizes that a 2011 work stoppage is a very real possibility.

That’s why they’ve started to ask upper level executives to consider taking a pay cut.  (via Sports Business Daily)

Some NFL clubs are asking top-level employees to take pay cuts as steep as 50 percent or agree to be terminated with little notice if there is a work stoppage in 2011.

Clauses to that effect began appearing in coaches’ contracts about six months ago, and have been included in contracts of other high-level NFL club employees as well, sources said, including contracts for scouts and high-level business-side executives.

The NFL collective-bargaining agreement with players expires in March 2011, and owners are expected to lock players out if there is no deal. That would mean little or no work for thousands of other NFL club employees.

The vast majority of non-player employees at NFL clubs can quit or be fired “at will,” and do not have employment agreements. But many top executives on the business side have contracts, as do all general managers and coaches.

Many of the work-stoppage clauses differ from club to club but some of the same language appears in multiple contracts, said Larry Kennan, staff director of the NFL Coaches Association, a trade association that represents the about 600 NFL coaches, from head coaches to the lowest-level assistant coaches.

“There are multiple contracts with the same terms. For instance, a lot of them have that the club can impose a 25 percent salary reduction in the event of the lockout,” he said.

Of course, that only handles the club executives.  What about NFL coaches?

Kennan said many coaches are not aware of the new contract language because they haven’t negotiated their contracts for the potential lockout year. He did say that some of the language in the contracts ties coaches down. “In most cases the club is saying we can renew this thing when the lockout ends,” he said. On the other hand, there are some clauses which allow coaches to work in college football, he said.

Some coaches are refusing to sign contracts that contain the work-stoppage language, according to Kennan and agents who represent coaches.

Agents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals against their clients, say some coaches have fought successfully to get the lockout clauses stricken. “Like anyone else, it depends on how much leverage you have and if a team wants a coach badly enough,” one agent said.

Unlike NFL players, NFL coaches are not part of a collective-bargaining unit and have no union to fight against the changes in their contracts. (The NFL Coaches Association is funded by dues, which about two-thirds of the 600 coaches pay voluntarily. The association is not funded by the NFL Players Association, but the players union provides office space and services, including administrative and legal services, to the coaches group.)

Just another unfortunate look at what the future of the NFL might be if the NFLPA and owners can’t come to an agreement.  I wonder how much trickle-down we could see in the UFL if the NFL does have any sort of prolonged lock-out?  Those UFL guys may end up being the smartest people the world has ever seen.