NFLPA re-established
According to NFL Network reporter Albert Breer, the players have re-established themselves as a union. That was the first step. The Bills themselves voted Friday on recertification.
Now the NFLPA and the league will meet this weekend to negotiate the final terms of the new CBA.
Joe D. takes on Brees
Joe DeLamielleure is calling out Drew Brees for what the Pro Football Hall of Fame guard believes is a “window dressing” resolution to put two retired player representatives on the NFLPA Player Board of Representatives.
The reason DeLamielleure feels the motion rings hollow is because those two seats do not have votes. They’d literally be figureheads with no voting power. So the Bills Wall of Famer wrote an open letter to Brees on the heels of his resolution at the NFLPA meetings in Hawaii last week where he again champions the cause of increased disability benefits for retired NFL players.
The entire letter can be found here.
NFLPA exec in town
New NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith is in Buffalo today and is addressing the Bills players at One Bills Drive this afternoon.
Smith has been making his way to each NFL city to introduce himself personally to the men he represents. The Bills were apparently next on that list.
Smith has been well received by the players thus far as he has been pretty successful in not only galvanizing the union, but helping all players put a face to a name.
Troy Vincent in interesting NFLPA battle
Former Bills defensive back Troy Vincent is one of the five remaining candidates for the NFLPA Executive Director post, formerly held by the late Gene Upshaw, and according to some he’s not the preferred candidate of the Association’s legal counsel.
Pro Football Talk is speculating that a smear campaign against Vincent could ensue as a result to eliminate him as a candidate. The NFLPA hierarchy apparently prefers former Dolphins DE Trace Armstrong.
