Apparently, the players submitted some type of proposal to the owners sometime Wednesday. According to TSN, the counterproposal from the owners went something like this:
"The league's offer Wednesday night offered a raise in money devoted to the 'make-whole' provision. The number in the latest offer jumped to $300 million, up from $211 million in the league's previous offer. The players had previously asked for $389 million, making the owners' latest offer an exact middle ground between the previous offer and the players' demands. However, of that proposed $300 million only $250 million would go towards a 'make-whole' provision with the remaining $50 million going towards pension funding that would not come out of the players' share.
The proposal submitted was for a 10-year term for the next CBA with an opt-out clause after eight years. The rules governing unrestricted free agency and salary arbitration would remain unchanged from last season. The league did not budge on its request for a five-year term limit on player contracts and held firm to a maximum year-to-year salary variance of five per cent.
The league's offer did, however, offer an exception on contract lengths for the re-signing of free agents. Teams would be allowed to re-sign their own free agents to contracts up to seven years in duration."
On the face, I like this proposal. I think the players will try to work on two areas. First, I'm not so sure about the owners meeting them halfway on "make whole" but then saying $50 million of it will go towards pension funding. I could agree to that if the owners are matching the pension funding. Second, I don't think the players will go for a 10 year CBA. As a fan, I love the idea. No threat of a lockout a few years down the line. The owners want 10 with a opt out at 8; the players want 5. I say they agree to 7 with an opt out at 5.
I like the proposal of free agents signing with their own teams for 7 years. This kind of system seems to work well in the NBA.
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