NFL's CBA Proposal Explained

The current NFL collective bargaining agreement will expire after the 2020 season, and negotiations between the owners and the Players Association appear to be precipitating.

Alongside outlawing marijuana-related suspensions and guidelines on player safety, the NFL is working towards tweaking the current postseason format as well as the regular season schedule.

The proposed terms of the new CBA have been hit with a profusion of controversy, particularly from superstars around the league. Perhaps opinions will be more levelheaded with a full understanding and explanation of the CBA's proposals.

Explaining the NFL's CBA Proposal

New Playoff Format

This is fairly self explanatory. This chunk of the agreement would see 14 teams (almost half the league) qualify for the postseason. A third game would be added to Wild Card Weekend, meaning that there will be three games on both Saturday and Sunday...or potentially a game on Monday.

For example, the Ravens and 49ers would have earned byes as the No. 1 seeds of their conferences. The No. 2 seeds, however -- the Chiefs and Packers -- would be slated to face the No. 7 seeds. This year, that would have been the Steelers and Rams.

This adds more ramifications in regular season play as that first-round bye becomes all the more valuable. Additionally, players on teams that secure a first-round bye will now receive postseason pay. The current CBA did NOT compensate players on byes.

Regular Season and Preseason Changes

This is where players around the NFL went scorched earth. The new CBA proposal includes adding another regular season contest, which would make the schedule a 17-game slate. The current 16-game season is already taxing enough on the bodies of players. The NFL will need to work some magic to convince the Players Union to get on board.

A portion of that includes the revenue split between the owners and players. It is currently set at a 47% share for the latter. The new deal would see it increase to 48%, and potentially 48.5% if the league shifts to 17 games after the 2020 season.

That's not a crazy boost in terms of percentages, but we are talking about billions of dollars here, folks.

The NFL would promptly let go of one preseason game, down from four to three as a means to limit meaningless season-altering injuries and give teams enough time to make exhausting roster decisions.

Mid-Level Exception

What should entice players here is the fact that minimum salaries would be inflated. Additionally, an extra $1.25 million will be removed altogether from the salary cap for (at most) two players with four or more years of experience in the league.

In other words, teams close to breaching their cap limit would be able to add veterans with virtually no repercussions.

When Could We See These Changes?

If an agreement is reached in the short term, changes to the playoff format would be instilled immediately in the 2020 campaign. The 17-game regular season, however, likely wouldn't be introduced until 2021 at the absolute earliest.

There's still a lot to be done, but that's about as comprehensive as this new CBA agreement goes.

How are we feeling now, NFL fans?