Steelers News: When it comes to CBA negotiations, do the players deserve better?

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2019 season is officially over. After finishing the year 8-8, the Steelers, and their vast fan base, has another long offseason awaiting them. Just because the games are done doesn’t mean we stop providing you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over throughout the offseason!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at how the current NFL/NFLPA CBA negotiations make fans wonder if the players are getting what they truly deserve.

Let’s get to the news:

• Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations can be tough for any occupation. But for a billion dollar entity like the NFL, things can get difficult. Are the players getting what they deserve?

Mark Madden: NFL players deserve better than owners are offering in new CBA proposal

By: Mark Madden, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

There are many reasons the NFL Players Association should turn down the owners’ CBA proposal. Not least among them:

• It adds a 17th game, probably starting in 2022. Football is the most physically damaging of sports. The players don’t need more risk. The NFL doesn’t need to play more games. The fans aren’t exactly clamoring. But the owners and networks are.

• Players currently contracted for 16-game seasons would be paid no more than $250,000 for a 17th game. In many cases, that would be a cut in pay.

• The franchise and transition tags still exist (although teams can only use one, not two). As long as there’s a franchise tag, NFL free agency isn’t truly free.

• Contracts still wouldn’t be guaranteed. (The players seem to have given up on this. They shouldn’t. Not with contracts guaranteed in MLB, the NBA and the NHL.)

Some facets of the CBA proposal might appeal to the players, a few perhaps more than they should:

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• A sad day for the Steelers organization.

Former Steelers assistant Dan Radakovich dies at 84

By: Charean Williams, ProFootballTalk

Former Steelers assistant coach Dan Radakovich died Thursday. He was 84.

Robert Morris, where Radakovich spent 13 seasons as an assistant coach, announced his passing.

Radakovich was the Steelers’ defensive line/linebackers coach in 1971. He coached at the University of Colorado before returning to the Steelers in 1974 as offensive line coach.

“We are saddened to learn of the passing of Dan Radakovich,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “It was during his second stint on Chuck [Noll]’s staff that Dan introduced some offensive line techniques that were innovative for the era and still are used today.”

Radakovich spent 1978 as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach with the 49ers before joining the Los Angeles Rams in 1979.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Zack Gentry’s rookie season was a learning experience for the former Michigan tight end.

A learning experience for Gentry

By: Teresa Varley, Steelers.com

It wasn’t the rookie season Zach Gentry hoped for. Not even close.

Gentry, a tight end from Michigan who was taken in the fifth-round of the 2019 NFL Draft, had hoped to have been a contributor last season.

Instead, though, he found himself inactive for 12 games and in the four games he played coming away with just one reception for four yards.

”It’s always tough as a competitor,” said Gentry. “I was inactive for a lot of the games, just watching. That is tough as a competitor being on the sidelines watching. It’s a numbers game. At the end of the day it is what it is. I am setting myself up to be more of a role and a factor next season.

”I learned a lot this year. Just the ins and outs of everyday life in the NFL. I was lucky. I had a lot of guys to look up to in the locker room. I was happy because I felt like I was able to learn every day and that’s what I needed.”

One of the main people Gentry leaned on for advice and to learn from was veteran tight end Vance McDonald. McDonald became a mentor to Gentry, a leader who helped him navigate through the muddy waters of a rookie season.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

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