DeMaurice Smith: NFL lockout or strike in 2021 is 'virtual certainty'
NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said a work stoppage after the current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2021 is “a virtual certainty."
"I think that the likelihood of either a strike or a lockout is almost in ’21 a virtual certainty," Smith told Sports Illustrated in a video posted Thursday.
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The current CBA, which followed a months-long lockout that ended in July 2011, is set to expire after the 2020 season. While the revenue split between the players and owners will again be a major issue, the power NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wields under the personal conduct policy — which most recently came into play with last week’s six-game suspension of Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott over domestic violence accusations — will almost certainly come under scrutiny.
“We have a deal, where if it doesn’t get fixed, we are little ‘a’ Armageddon,” Smith said.
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