Last week, Chargers running back Austin Ekeler demanded answers from ownership regarding the current state of the market at the position. On Wednesday, Ekeler got an answer he might not like.
“NFL Running Back situation,” Colts owner Jim Irsay declared on Twitter. “We have negotiated a CBA, that took years of effort and hard work and compromise in good faith by both sides..to say now that a specific Player category wants another negotiation after the fact, is inappropriate. Some Agents are selling ‘bad faith’..”
Irsay’s tweet contains several factual flaws. It also reflects one very strategic misstep. At a time when running backs are already upset, Irsay’s strident, hostile tweet will only make things worse. It will make running backs more motivated to push for both individual and global solutions to their belief that the system is rigged against them — up to and including a possible mass positional boycott from the voluntary offseason program in 2024.
As to Irsay’s actual remarks, it’s arguably a stretch to say there has been “good faith on both sides” during the CBA talks. In 2011, the owners locked the players out for months, knowing that when push came to shove the players would cave and take the best offer. With the owners always willing to embrace the nuclear option of missing a full season of football and the players unwilling to miss even one week, there’s an inherent imbalance of which the league has taken full and complete advantage, for more than a decade.
Also, Irsay’s dismissal of players seeking “another negotiation after the fact” simply ignores the realities of collective bargaining. Every labor deal is always subject to change. In 2020, after the NFL Players Association accepted an offer made by the NFL before the pandemic began, the NFL rushed back to the table, begging the NFLPA to re-do the deal in light of the expected financial losses. It is therefore not “inappropriate” to revisit a settled CBA, because there is no fully and completely settled CBA. Circumstances change, and responsible companies understand and accept that fact.
Finally, why does Irsay claim that “some agents are selling ‘bad faith’”? This is an organic movement, sparked by the players and organized by the players. Agents were specifically frozen out of Saturday night’s Zoom call. While agents will be a valuable resource in trying to solve the situation, it’s the players who have decided to take a stand.
Irsay’s surprisingly combative message and tone will serve only to make the running backs more committed to turning their words and ideas into action that will turn the tables on Irsay and his partners. Frankly, Irsay has done them all a favor. His decision to join the fray will make it more likely that, once they all get focused on football season, they won’t lose sight of the issues that have created so much frustration.
