Latest news with #collusion
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
De Smith: Some at NFLPA thought collusion case was "waste of time"
The story of the collusion ruling is slowly dying on the vine, undoubtedly to the delight of the NFL and the NFL Players Association. It's dying because the people who cover the NFL aren't willing or able to advance the story. (It's unclear whether they're even trying.) Advertisement Despite no new reporting, the story of last week received a mild jolt of adrenaline from former executive director DeMaurice Smith's upcoming book. Via Daniel Kaplan of Smith's book (Turf Wars) addresses the collusion case, which was filed when Smith was still in the job. 'There were people inside our building who thought it was a waste of time, but internally, our office had evidence of collusion, including hearing from multiple sources that the league and teams were discussing their avoidance of fully guaranteed contracts,' Smith writes. The NFLPA proved that the NFL encouraged teams to collude regarding guaranteed contracts, with clear evidence of internal communications aimed at getting teams to hold the line following the Deshaun Watson contract. And the ruling contains plenty of evidence of actual collusion, even if the arbitrator chose to ignore it. Still, the story goes nowhere if there are no developments. And there will be no developments if the people who receive paychecks to cover the NFL take steps to preserve those paychecks by tiptoeing around something that could piss off the league and/or the union.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Few will say anything about the collusion case
It's been six days since Pablo Torre's podcast episode regarding the collusion ruling landed. And very few people in and around the NFL are saying anything about it. The NFL and the NFL Players Association haven't said a word. While there's still a chance either or both will hand-pick a reporter who is otherwise ignoring the case to spoon feed something that will clumsily push back against the bad look that the situation has given to both sides, don't expect either the league or the union to have anything to say about the substance of the issue. Advertisement Those connected to the situation have nothing to say, either. Agent Mark Rodgers, who represents Russell Wilson, and agent Erik Burkhardt, who represents Kyler Murray, declined comment — even though their clients were two of the three quarterbacks on whom the case focused. Other agents have declined to speak, with multiple agents explaining off the record that there's no reason to make an enemy of the NFL or the NFLPA when their main business activities require having a working relationship with both sides. "I've got mouths to feed," one agent said under a grant of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic. "These fuckers don't forget things." Players aren't talking either, other than former player and Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year winner Chris Long. We've heard that there are Executive Committee members and/or player representatives who aren't under the thumb of current NFLPA management. None of them has said a peep about the current situation, however. Advertisement It's unclear whether the players' silence results from fear of reprisal, or from basic apathy. Only one person, so far, would go on the record. Long-time agent Peter Schaffer provided a statement to PFT. "It's clear the arbitrator confirmed teams colluded against guaranteed money — something we, as agents, have known they have done since the advent of free agency," Schaffer said. "The real question has always been how do we create and force change?" Schaffer wants to spin the situation forward by focusing on the biggest impediment to fully-guaranteed deals: The outdated funding rule that requires a large portion of future guarantees to be put in escrow. Advertisement "For over two decades, the agent community has urged the NFLPA in CBA negotiations to eliminate the NFL's unilaterally imposed guarantee funding rule on guaranteed player contracts — the biggest obstacle to securing more fully-guaranteed contracts," Schaffer said. "Now, with this ruling, we have leverage. It's time to act. Let's go. End the funding rule." The funding rule was adopted to protect the players against potential insolvency. Now that every team is swimming in cash, there's no need for it. But the league won't give it up. Because it's a bargaining chip in negotiations. That makes any effort to end it a potential win for the league. It's also a win for the league that few are saying anything about the NFL being caught colluding. And it's a win, too, for the union that no one is calling for a mass ouster of leadership over the inexplicable failure to use the collusion ruling as a weapon against management. We'll see if the silence continues. Maybe the fact that Schaffer has issued a comment will cause others to throw a little caution to the wind and say what they believe, even if they might face repercussions from the big, bad wolves who are officially being very sheepish right now.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
The 2025 WSOP collusion 'scandal' and investigation, explained
The World Series of Poker has had its occasional controversies over the years with some wild moments that made headlines. This time? A 2025 WSOP event might be a scandal. Here's what we know: Their $1,500 Millionaire Maker event was down to two players, with James Carroll up on Jesse Yaginuma. But it was Yaginuma who ended up with the bracelet and a cool $1.26 million. Advertisement That's not the controversy. Here's what could be that's led to an investigation, per ESPN: "Many of the hands won by Yaginuma came in the form of raises or reraises that were continually not contested by Carroll. Viewers of the event's livestream, including a number of professional poker players, began to speculate that Carroll was chip dumping to Yaginuma -- intentionally losing hands to build up his opponent's stack -- so that the two could split some portion of the prize money." Is that collusion? Let's dive in further: What are the WSOP rules about collusion? Per the Las Vegas Review-Journal: WSOP rule 40b states: 'Collusion is defined as any agreement between or among two (2) or more Participants to engage in illegal or unethical acts against other Participants. Collusion includes, but is not limited to, acts such as: chip dumping; soft play; sharing card information with another Participant; sending or receiving signals from or to another Participant; the use of electronic communication with the intent to facilitate collusion; and any other act that Host Properties deem inappropriate.' What did WSOP say about the investigation? So the prize money and bracelet haven't been given out yet. Why would the two players collude in a WSOP event? There's some speculation over a prize from ClubWPT Gold: a player could win an additional $1 million if they won a WSOP event and a "ticket" from a poker summer event. Yaginuma had one of those tickets, so maybe Carroll was trying to help him out? What did the poker players say about the collusion allegations? Per Yaginuma told us there was no heads-up deal in his post-win interview, though the two did meet. "No, not really. We talked for a little bit about poker, but yeah, that was about it." This article originally appeared on For The Win: WSOP collusion investigation, explained over Millionaire Maker ending
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Russell Wilson's negotiations with Broncos revealed strong evidence of collusion
System Arbitrator Christopher Droney had no choice but to find that the NFL tried to get its teams to collude regarding guaranteed contracts, given the black-and-white clarity of the evidence. Regarding whether the teams followed the league's lead, Droney ignored strong circumstantial evidence. Plenty of the evidence comes from the negotiations between the Broncos and quarterback Russell Wilson. Advertisement Wilson testified that, early in his discussions with the Broncos, he requested a seven-year, fully-guaranteed contract that would pay "around $50 million a year." The Broncos, said Wilson, "didn't blink." The trade that sent Wilson to Denver became official on March 16, 2022. In the following days, something changed. "I would say shortly after [the trade], maybe within the next ten days or so, they started getting cold feet on this fully guaranteed thing," Wilson testified in the hearing. Coincidentally — or not — "the NFL Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL Clubs to reduce guarantees in veterans' contracts at the March 2022 annual owners' meeting," as Droney concluded. The encouragement happened on March 28, only 12 days afer the Wilson trade was announced. Advertisement Is it really a surprise, then, that the Broncos backpedaled? The backpedaling continued through August, when the team was sold to the Walton-Penner group. After the sale became final, a deal with Wilson was pursued. The Broncos, despite Wilson's testimony that the team "didn't blink" at the prospect of a fully-guaranteed deal, took the position that a fully-guaranteed contract like Deshaun Watson's "was a non starter." During the talks, Broncos owner Greg Penner told other members of the Denver ownership group that "there's not[h]ing in here that other owners will consider off market (e.g. like the Watson guarantees)." Later, Penner told his partners that G.M. George Paton "feels very good about it for us as a franchise and the benchmark it sets (versus Watson) for the rest of the league." Advertisement Those comments are as powerful as the smoking-gun text exchange between Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill regarding the Kyler Murray deal. They are circumstantial evidence of the existence of an agreement among owners to hold down guarantees, and of a desire by Penner and the Broncos to comply with it. Why else would Penner care about other owners and other teams when negotiating a contract with Wilson? When Penner was the CEO of WalMart, did he care about the impact his decisions regarding key employee pay may have on Target's compensation structure for similar employees? The evidence of collusion was right there. Droney blew it. There's no other way to put it. And the NFL Players Association continues to blow it by not publicizing the contents of the 61-page ruling.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Russell Wilson's negotiation with Broncos revealed strong evidence of collusion
System Arbitrator Christopher Droney had no choice but to find that the NFL tried to get its teams to collude regarding guaranteed contracts, given the black-and-white clarity of the evidence. Regarding whether the teams followed the league's lead, Droney ignored strong circumstantial evidence. Plenty of the evidence comes from the negotiations between the Broncos and quarterback Russell Wilson. Advertisement Wilson testified that, early in his discussions with the Broncos, he requested a seven-year, fully-guaranteed contract that would pay "around $50 million a year." The Broncos, said Wilson, "didn't blink." The trade that sent Wilson to Denver became official on March 16, 2022. In the following days, something changed. "I would say shortly after [the trade], maybe within the next ten days or so, they started getting cold feet on this fully guaranteed thing," Wilson testified in the hearing. Coincidentally — or not — "the NFL Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL Clubs to reduce guarantees in veterans' contracts at the March 2022 annual owners' meeting," as Droney concluded. The encouragement happened on March 28, only 12 days afer the Wilson trade was announced. Advertisement Is it really a surprise, then, that the Broncos backpedaled? The backpedaling continued through August, when the team was sold to the Walton-Penner group. After the sale became final, a deal with Wilson was pursued. The Broncos, despite Wilson's testimony that the team "didn't blink" at the prospect of a fully-guaranteed deal, took the position that a fully-guaranteed contract like Deshaun Watson's "was a non starter." During the talks, Broncos owner Greg Penner told other members of the Denver ownership group that "there's not[h]ing in here that other owners will consider off market (e.g. like the Watson guarantees)." Later, Penner told his partners that G.M. George Paton "feels very good about it for us as a franchise and the benchmark it sets (versus Watson) for the rest of the league." Advertisement Those comments are as powerful as the smoking-gun text exchange between Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill regarding the Kyler Murray deal. They are circumstantial evidence of the existence of an agreement among owners to hold down guarantees, and of a desire by Penner and the Broncos to comply with it. Why else would Penner care about other owners and other teams when negotiating a contract with Wilson? When Penner was the CEO of WalMart, did he care about the impact his decisions regarding key employee pay may have on Target's compensation structure for similar employees? The evidence of collusion was right there. Droney blew it. There's no other way to put it. And the NFL Players Association continues to blow it by not publicizing the contents of the 61-page ruling.
