Owners preserve harmony, approve players' proposal

~ The collective bargaining agreement was extended six years.

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Labor peace was restored to the NFL when the owners agreed to the players' union proposal Wednesday, extending the collective bargaining agreement for six years.

There were no further details on the accord, including whether it includes expanded revenue sharing.

The vote was 30-2, with Buffalo and Cincinnati, two low-revenue teams, voting against it.

Free agency, put off twice by the protracted negotiations between the owners and players, now will start at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

"It was a good compromise," said Jim Irsay, owner of low-revenue Indianapolis. "We're happy with it -- 30-2 is a good vote."

The agreement comes after a week of on-again, off-again negotiations, culminating in a two-day owners meeting.

No work stoppage was imminent -- at least for the next two years -- but no agreement would have sent teams scrambling to get under a lower salary cap, at $94.5 million. That would have put a number of veterans on the street and limited the amount of money available for other free agents.

Some were already let go, such as Brentson Buckner, a 13-year veteran who was cut by the Carolina Panthers last week to clear about $1.5 million of cap space.

"It was eventually going to happen, they had to get it done," he said. "But it's good because now it gives guys who put in the time to become a big-time free agent, the guys like Edgerrin James, the chance to go out and get what they've earned."

No CBA deal would've led to an uncapped year in 2007.

Now, the salary limit is expected to go up by as much as $10 million with an extension in place.

"It's also good for the guys like me because now somebody has a little extra money and they can go after a veteran who might have gotten squeezed out in this," Buckner said. "I'm sure the veteran minimum is going to go up, so guys like me can go out and get a one-year somewhere and feel good about the situation they are going into."

The real debate was between the owners themselves on the important issue of expanded revenue sharing.

The issue involves low-income teams such as Buffalo, Cincinnati and Indianapolis who say high-revenue teams -- Dallas, Washington and Philadelphia, for instance -- should contribute proportionately to the player pool because they can earn far more in nonfootball income from things such as advertising and local radio rights.

Those high-revenue teams might contribute only 10 percent of their outside money compared with 50 percent or more for low-revenue teams.

"Some teams are contributing a little more than others," Redskins owner Dan Snyder said. "This is really a win-win."

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, has insisted throughout more than a year of negotiations that this division must be resolved before agreement can be reached on a contract extension.

"This agreement is not about one side winning or losing," Upshaw said in a statement. "Ultimately, it is about what is best for the players, the owners and the fans of the National Football League. As caretakers of the game we have acted in the manner the founders intended.

"Moving forward, this new agreement gives us the opportunity to continue our unprecedented success and growth."