Aaron Rodgers, Other NFL Stars Take Stance Against Proposed CBA

Aaron Rodgers was evidently not interested in being a “show pony” for another NFL Players Association meeting.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Rodgers did not show up for the ongoing NFLPA meetings after voicing concerns about the proposed collective bargaining agreement in the last meeting during the NFL Scouting Combine. He was hardly the only high-profile player absent from the meeting, either, with Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Houston’s J.J. Watt both skipping as well.

Rodgers was one of the most vocal opponents to the proposed CBA when the 32 team representatives met in Indianapolis, where they decided by 17-14 decision (one abstained) to send the deal to a player-wide vote for a final decision. He later criticized the way he was used in the CBA negotiations in a radio interview with ESPN Wisconsin, saying his involvement amounted to that of a “show pony.”

“Bring in the guy who’s going to be in the room,” Rodgers said of his role. “I don’t think they realized maybe my ability to speak in those environments, and what I really was passionate about.”

The NFLPA board issued a statement later Monday about extending the voting deadline on the proposed CBA to Saturday, March 14 at 11:59 p.m. ET and encouraged players to “make an informed decision,” but it hasn’t stopped the growing dissent between players.

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Rodgers Has Been Clear About CBA Objections

After the meeting in Indianapolis, Rodgers laid out his reasons for voting “No” against the proposed CBA in a social media post, talking about his concerns about the jump to 17 regular-season games and the lack of tradeoff for players in terms of workload and other team-related demands.

He also raised issues about the deal not going far enough to protect the interests of former players, particularly where health was concerned.

“The point that I was trying to make in that meeting and as we talked to the PA afterward was, ‘Tell me what I can go back and tell my veteran players. What are we getting in return for this 17th game?” Rodgers said. “To me, it just wasn’t substantial enough to go back and tell those young players and older players, ‘Hey, look, this is what you’re going to be getting.'”

Rodgers also said during his appearance on ESPN’s “Wilde and Tausch” he emailed all of his Green Bay Packers teammates in hopes of educating them about the proposed CBA and called it “disheartening” when he received “next to no responses.”

That doesn’t mean mums the word for all of his Packers teammates, though. Starting left tackle David Bakhtiari has also been particularly active on social media in terms of educating his fellow NFL player about the CBA offer. He, along with numerous others, have echoed Rodgers’ sentiments or voiced their own concerns, imploring players to seek out their representation and figure out what is in their best interests before casting their votes.

Unfortunately, any player having second thoughts about an already-cast vote is out of luck. Per ESPN’s Dan Graziano, some players requested to change their votes because they changed their minds about the proposed CBA, but the Players Association put the issue to a vote Monday between team reps and voted it down.

Denying players the ability to change their votes doesn’t have great optics for the Players Association, especially when its leaders are being accused of “bad faith” negotiations. Chargers offensive tackle Russell Okung alleged as much in a recently filed lawsuit that accused the NFLPA staff of forcing a vote on the deal and attempting to quiet him from speaking out about the lack of transparency, per The New York Times.

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