NFL owners trying to hit pay dirt with players, TV networks

A new collective bargaining agreement hovers as a key piece of the NFL offseason, but the next round of TV contracts represents the more pivotal item on the league’s to-do list. Those contracts are not up after this season, but both the league and the NFLPA want those contracts done soon, the Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Beaton reports. NFL ratings rose last season, and the owners and players would like to capitalize on that momentum this year — before any potential ratings dips blunt it. A CBA not being finalized in the next few weeks — before the election of a new NFLPA president and the new league year opening March 18 — increases the chances of a 2021 work stoppage. The NFLPA will elect a new president between March 7 and March 10. Russell Okung is running for the post Eric Winston is vacating, and his election may well stall CBA talks. He is against expanding to a 17-game season. The current CBA expires in March of 2021. People familiar with the CBA talks indicate the sides want to have this resolved, b

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