Lockout may cost NFL coaches their jobs or upto 50 percent salaries
Coaches in the National Football League (NFL) stand to lose as much as 50 percent of their salaries in 2011 if there is a lockout; and that is only if they are able to keep their jobs in the first place.
“Every team has a clause that says their salary will be rolled back at a certain point in time,” said NFL Coaches Association Executive Director Larry Kennan. That doesn’t necessarily mean that teams will exercise that right, rather the decision will be
up individual teams. Kennan added, “The good teams say they won't roll back salaries for six months. The bad teams say they'll roll it back immediately.”
So what kind of pay cuts can NFL clubs impose on coaches?
In 2007 NFL owners started writing lockout clauses in the contracts of coaches and executives. Those clauses give the team the power to reduce the salary of a coach in the event of a lockout. Teams will have the right to reduce salaries on a 20 day notice.
If the lockout continues for three months, a team will be able to cut the compensation of a coach by as much as 50 percent.
Since 2007, almost all coaching contracts signed include the lockout clauses however, some of the elite coaches of the NFL fought off the clause during contract negotiations. Kennan confirmed that most teams have no intentions of applying the cuts for the
first 30 days of the lockout. If however, a labour agreement continues to be evasive, salary cuts will be implemented by more and more teams.
Kennan also said that most teams intend to reimburse head coaches and assistants their lost wages if no games are cancelled due to the lockout. However, there is no way of knowing if the labour strife will result in games being lost, and if the coaches will
be compensated. Kennan said, “I've told them if you can save some money, do it. There's enough stress on these guys without being docked 25 percent of their pay.”
The NFL and the players union have held seven days of negotiations to work out a new labour deal. They are scheduled to meet again on the first of March but there are still many outstanding issues that haven’t been resolved.
“If there is a lockout starting 4 March, coaches will take a pay cut of varying degrees,” Kennan said. “Players will be affected because they'll lose bonuses, but they don't lose salary in March, April or May. The coaches will lose pay.”
The players who are entering free agency will have a different set of problems after March. Without a labour deal, NFL teams will not be able to sign free agents. Almost 25 percent of NFL players are scheduled to enter free agency this year. Trading between
teams will also not be permitted until a labour agreement is in place.
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