To cushion the effects of the Corona pandemic, the NFL is asking its teams to save money. But the players and their union don’t like it at all.

In a letter, the NFL has advised its 32 franchises to cut their player salary expenses by $40 million, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network. This is to minimize the impact of the Corona pandemic on the salary cap.

Players reject proposal
Earlier, the NFL had recommended cuts of $35 million, but Thursday’s new proposal meets with even less approval. The leading players within the NFLPA firmly reject the proposal, Pelissero said, and a 35 percent pay cut is also rejected by a large majority.

The union prefers to spread the loss of income over the salary caps for the coming years, while the NFL wants to absorb the financial impact immediately. If the two sides fail to find a joint solution, a huge financial collapse threatens by 2021 at the latest, Pelissero explains on “Twitter”.

What happens if no deal is struck on economics?

A projected multibillion revenue shortfall in 2020 would be accounted for in 2021, causing the salary cap to drop by in the range of $50 million to $70 million per club.

League wants a deal done before camp. Union in no rush.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 17, 2020

Time is pressing
If the negotiations fail, the salary cap could fall by up to 70 million dollars. This would particularly affect older players with highly remunerated contracts, as they would either have to renegotiate their contracts or, in the worst case, be dismissed immediately in order to create cap space.

Until the start of the training camps on July 28, the NFL wants to reach an agreement with the players’ union, but there is no time pressure on the NFLPA side, Pelissero adds. Both sides should not allow too much time, however.