Detroit Lions defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch recently did a Q&A with the Detroit Free Press' Carlos Monarrez to discuss a variety of issues surrounding the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. Vanden Bosch is the Lions' NFLPA representative, so he has a lot of good insight into the situation at hand. You can read the full Q&A here, and a recap of his main points is below.
- Vanden Bosch thinks there will be a lockout next month because he doesn't believe much progress toward a new CBA is being made right now. He isn't sure how long the lockout will last, but he does think it will happen.
- Although he isn't sure of the length of the impending lockout, he does think there will be football in 2011. With football being the most popular sport in America right now, he thinks there is too much to lose to have the lockout affect the 2011 season.
- March 4, when the lockout would begin, isn't an important deadline to Vanden Bosch. Although free agency would be affected, he thinks a more important point in the lockout would be around the time of the draft in April. Because draft picks couldn't be signed with a lockout and the potential for the draft to happen before free agency, Vanden Bosch thinks there will be more of a sense of urgency to get something done in April rather than in March when the current CBA expires.
- The main issue that the two sides can't agree is what percentage of the revenue the players should get. There are also issues like an 18-game season, player safety and other things that are keeping negotiations from progressing too much.
- Vanden Bosch went into detail about what will happen to players rehabbing from injuries once a lockout goes into effect, and because I feel it's important to get his full explanation, you can read that after the jump.
Q: If there’s a lockout, what happens to players, such are yourself or Matthew Stafford, who have had surgery and need to communicate with the team medical staff?
A: "There will be no direct communication with the coaches or even trainers. As far as me, I don’t have rehab. That’s all behind me. But other guys who are in active rehab, I think trainers right now are trying to get information about where they’ll be rehabbing, what facilities they’ll be at; just making sure they’re comfortable with the guy’s plan during the off-season. But (after a lockout) the trainers can’t directly contact players and find out where they’re at and how their rehab’s coming and how they’re progressing. Players are going to have to do a good job of staying on top of it and making sure they’re doing the right things because the team can’t monitor what they’re doing."