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Eric Reid, free-agent safety has announced that he will be fighting the National Football League’s (NFL) freshly approved collective bargaining agreement (CBA), calling for it to be rendered null and void after the NFL added new language after it was ratified by a player vote.
Reid is seeking a probe into the new language, as well as a revote from all members of the NFL Players Association (PA).
Reid’s lawyers sent a letter to the PA earlier this week stating that the CBA posted on the PA’s website after it was passed with a 1,019-959 vote on March 15 used different language from the CBA that players voted for and signed.
The new CBA is scheduled to take effect for the forthcoming NFL 2020 season, and will be kept in place until 2030, when a new CBA will be renegotiated.
The letter drafted by Reid’s lawyers – Ray Genco and Ben Meiselas, honed in a slight adjustment of language in the section regarding the NFL’s disability plan, which could affect more than a thousand ex-players who applied for and completed their Social Security disability insurance payments before the Jan. 1, 2015 deadline. In the version of the CBA members of the PA signed, offsets applied only to players who applied after the deadline.
My lawyers @meiselasb and @markgeragos sent a letter to the @NFLPA and @DeSmithNFLPA this morning demanding answers why language in CBA was changed after vote and demanding a new vote and investigation. Read the letter and compare CBA we voted on vs. CBA posted on NFLPA website. pic.twitter.com/1F2LapcQE2
— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) March 30, 2020
Reid who has been open about his disagreement with the new CBA, released a number of Tweets showing the different wordings of the original CBA, and the CBA posted on the PA website.
Side by side of the CBA language players voted on vs CBA posted on @NFLPA site post vote pic.twitter.com/X89ClFjq9E
— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) March 30, 2020
Both the NFL and the PA are staying silent on the matter for now. Spokespersons for both parties have affirmed they will need time for their own legal team to review the documents under question.
Probe and Revote Necessary
Meiselas said that his client has pushed back against the new CBA due to its position on disabled players. In the process of helping former players who are now disabled, Meiselas discovered the discrepancy in language.
The change in CBA language after the vote, even if it were minor, is a big deal and grounds for invalidation. But here the change has a major and direct impact on hundreds MORE disabled players and their families. Investigate. Invalidate. https://t.co/83J5nSjOWV
— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) March 30, 2020
This is why Eric Reid is demanding that the new language be rendered null and void—as well as calling for a probe and a new vote that is transparent about the changes. According to Meiselas, the changes enacted on the CBA after it was ratified have major consequences for former NFL players who are now disabled, and it is necessary for members of the PA to be aware of what it is voting for.
