February 9
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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After the Pro Football Writers of America meeting (yours truly is second vice president), I caught up with Falcons coach Mike Smith and owner Arthur Blank while they were working radio row. (Missed Thomas Dimitroff, who made his rounds on Thursday). Smith talked with the local shows. He talked with Doc Walker and John Thompson from the D.C. station."
February 8
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Nine-time Pro Bowl selection and future Hall of Fame member Walter Jones has tentatively announced his retirement from football. In a tweet from Sunday afternoon, Jones said, "I have came to the concussion it is time for me to retire from football." One can only assume that concussion was meant to say "conclusion," indicating Jones' conclusion that his football career has finished."
February 5
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The head of the National Football League Players Association has forecast the demise of the salary cap for the first time if the 2010 season is played without a new labor agreement. DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the players union, offered a stern message on Thursday during a press conference at the Super Bowl that the salary cap, the vehicle regulating costs and the competitive balance in the NFL since 1993, might be on the way out. "The owners have always wanted a cap," Smith said. "I think it's virtually impossible to go back to a cap system if we go through an uncapped year." Late Friday morning Commissioner Roger Goodell was expected to present the league's case in a labor ..."
February 5
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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The NFL is headed for its first work stoppage in almost 25 years, players' union boss DeMaurice Smith said today. The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the players and owners expires after the 2010 season, and Smith said owners are preparing for a lockout by negotiating TV contracts that pay them in 2011 even if there are no games because of a labor standoff. When asked at the National Football League Players Association's annual news conference today about the chances if a lockout occurring after next season, Smith said, "On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 14. It's that serious." The two sides don't appear to be any closer to a new CBA than they were at this time last year. The ..."
February 5
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Forceful and at times defiant, NFL union chief DeMaurice Smith said Thursday that the players are bracing for a lockout in 2011 and vowed they will not blink even if a stare down with owners stops play for the first time in almost 25 years. The players and owners are still far apart on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The two sides have been unable to reach common ground on how $8 billion generated by the league annually should be split. They have almost a year to bridge the gap on revenue sharing, but Smith said the owners have been preparing for a lockout by negotiating TV deals that pay them even if there are no games in 2011 and hiring Bob Batterman, the attorney for the ..."
February 4
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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At some point over the next two years, there is litte doubt that the New Orleans Saints will reward quarterback Drew Brees with one of the richest contract extensions in NFL history. But an ESPN report that suggested the Saints are close to working out a new deal with Brees is a bit premature. So far, there have been no serious contract discussions between the Saints and Brees, according to both league sources and the ESPN report. Brees, 31, has two years remaining on the six-year, $60 million deal he signed as a free agent in 2006. Typically, the Saints don't discuss contract extensions until the final year of a player's contract, but they will certainly be willing to bend the rules for ..."