The NFL lockout is essentially underway. The NFL Players Association has filed the paperwork to decertify from the union, effectively ending the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement. The deadline came at 5 p.m. Friday, and the two sides could not come to an agreement.
The NFLPA announced its decision in a statement just after a 5 p.m. deadline that it imposed earlier in the day.
The NFL Players Association announced today it has informed the NFL, NFL clubs and other necessary parties that it has renounced its status as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the players of the National Football League.
The NFLPA will move forward as a professional trade association with the mission of supporting the interests and rights of current and former professional football players.
The move allows the Players Association to file injunctions in court against the league for locking out everyone after the expiration of the current CBA. The move also occurs after NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith said the only way the NFLPA would not decertify was if the owners offered to disclose financial data from the last 10 years by 5 p.m. Friday. The owners evidently passed on that request.
The decision comes one week after the two sides agreed to a one-week extension of the current CBA, but the issue of disclosing financial data quickly arose once again during negotiations this past week.