MINNEAPOLIS — The N.F.L. Players Association said it was preparing for protracted contract negotiations with the league over the collective bargaining agreement, which expires after the 2020 season.
“We prepare for war,” DeMaurice Smith, the association’s executive director, said on Thursday at the union’s annual news conference. “If we’re able to get a collective bargaining agreement done, that’s great. But all of these men went through a unilateral declared war on players in 2006, and 2010 and 2011,” and are prepared to a long battle again.
Appearing alongside several players, Smith said that there was no chance the players’ union would extend the current agreement.