New executive director DeMaurice Smith has been working for the NFL Players Association without a contract for six weeks while a deal is being negotiated.

A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that Smith has not been paid anything by the union.

He is not a holdout. He has been doing 16-hour days of work essentially for the players, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private. He is disappointed terms of the contract were released by someone on the executive committee, but will continue to work for the players while the negotiations go on.

An ESPN.com report said Smith is seeking a salary of between $3.2 and $3.7 million a year and a $500,000 bonus. But the person familiar with the contract talks told the AP the signing bonus would cover the work Smith already has done and still is doing.

Smith remains a partner at Patton Boggs, a Washington-based law firm, and he technically cant fully detach from his other commitments until a contract is reached with the NFLPA, the person familiar with the negotiations added.

ESPN reported that Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the union until his death last August, earned $4.3 million in salary and $2.4 million for licensing fees. Upshaw also was paid by Players Inc., the marketing arm of the union.

The contract was a main topic on a recent conference call by the 11-man NFLPA executive committee, with a suggested annual salary of $1.5-$2 million for Smith. Smith prefers a five-year deal and the union has suggested three years.

Upshaw held the post for 25 years before his death from pancreatic cancer. Smith beat three other finalists in the executive boards election in March, in great part because of his organizational acumen. Although regarded as an outsider with no ties to the union or NFL, he has ties to President Barack Obama and new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The 45-year-old Smith, the fourth leader in the 41-year history of the union, presented the union with a comprehensive plan, assembling roughly a dozen advisers – Wall Street financiers, labor lawyers and sports licensing experts – in making his presentation to the players before the election. His goals include increasing health care and opportunities for former and current players, saying the union has both a moral and business obligation to retired players.

His biggest challenge, though, will come in negotiations with the league on a new collective bargaining agreement. NFL owners opted out of the current CBA last year, and it will expire after the 2010 season, which is scheduled to have no salary cap.

Posted on April 23rd, 2009 by admin
Filed under: NFL football news