Monday's NFL: Free-agent Reid demands collective bargaining deal be invalidated
Free agent safety Eric Reid wants the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement invalidated over language added following ratification of the pact earlier this month.
He is calling for an investigation and a re-vote.
In a letter to the NFLPA on Monday, Reid’s lawyers said language posted on the players association’s website after passage of the agreement by a 1,019-959 vote on March 15 contains different language than the one players signed off on.
The new CBA is set to begin with the upcoming 2020 season and extend through 2030.
The letter from attorneys Ben Meiselas and Ray Genco highlight a difference in wording in the section about the league’s disability plan that affects hundreds, and potentially thousands, of ex-players who applied for Social Security disability insurance payments before Jan. 1, 2015. In the version the players received and approved, those offsets applied only to players who applied after Jan. 1, 2015.
In a series of tweets Monday, Reid, a vocal opponent of the agreement, provided screenshots of the CBA agreement that showed the language added after players approved the deal.
The NFL declined comment and the NFLPA did not respond to a request for comment on Reid’s letter or say why the language was modified after the vote.
Meiselas told The Associated Press Monday that the discrepancy was discovered when lawyers were “working with families of disabled players to guide them through the process.”
“We’ve been obviously critical of the CBA from the outset because it takes from disabled players. And so in advising them, we were looking at it and pointing out where they had issues and where they were going to be likely getting less money,” Meiselas said. “And then we saw it, and we go, ‘I don’t remember seeing this in Paragraph B.’”
Meiselas questioned why the language was added and why the NFL and players’ union weren’t transparent about the change.
“And so Eric’s letter demands the invalidation and an investigation and a re-vote because how do you stick in language that players didn’t know they were voting for?” Meiselas said.
Broncos tab Martin
The Broncos have finalized a three-year, $7 million deal with free agent punter Sam Martin, the third former Lions player signed by general manager John Elway this month.
Martin joins former Detroit teammates Graham Glasgow and Jeff Driskel in Denver. Glasgow, a guard and center, signed a four-year, $44 million deal and Driskel signed a two-year, $5 million contract to serve as quarterback Drew Lock’s backup.
Martin is an eighth-year pro who appeared in 106 games for the Lions after being selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft out of Appalachian State.
Extra points
The Steelers signed defensive end Dewayne Hendrix, safety Tyree Kinnel (Michigan) and linebacker/long snapper Christian Kuntz to one-year deals.
The signing also reunites Kinnel with former UM teammates Devin Bush and Zach Gentry. Kinnel played four years at UM, finishing with 154 tackles, a sack and two interceptions.
... Chargers agreed to terms with offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga, cornerback Chris Harris Jr., defensive tackle Linval Joseph and linebacker Nick Vigil.
... Packers re-signed running back/return specialist Tyler Ervin