Notes: Training camp reporting rules loom over negotiations

As noted by our fearless leader in Thursday’s edition of Notes, the NFL Players Association remains in a state of limbo with no agreements from league officials on their safety concerns. Star pass rusher of indeterminate position from the Houston Texans J.J. Watt was quite upset by the lack of information for good reason: the Texans and Chiefs are already preparing without approved protocols in hand to bring in players for COVID testing by Monday. When the special August Hall of Fame Game was canceled for the 2020 season, the Thursday Night game featuring the Texans and Chiefs to kick off the normal Week 1 slate became the new first game of the season. As such, they are now the first teams whose players must report for training camp per the new CBA:

On the absence of an agreement, player representatives like Nate Solder from the Giants have expressed in the past that player safety would be a must-have sticking point for the players in any camps or games the league wants to involve them in. Today I learned that Lions backup quarterback Chase Daniel, who was signed by the team in March as a free agent, is actually the team representative for the Chicago Bears on the NFLPA Board of Player Representatives until Fall 2020:

It’s been said by various folks with credibility that nothing is going to happen without the NFLPA being on board with the plan (whatever it ends up being), but how much leverage does the union really have? Former lineman Geoff Schwartz wondered about that:

Due to the “47 days before the first game” full team Monday reporting deadline set for the Chiefs and Texans in the March Collective Bargaining Agreement, it is certain the next three days will produce something one way or another.

Now for the rest of today’s Notes:

• @MasterTes from B/R’s Untold Stories Tweeted out a copy of the league proposals to the NFLPA:

• Another group dealing with safety protocols that has not received much attention but remains critical to making the NFL season happen is the referees. Patricia Traina at Sports Illustrated went “Inside the NFL Officials’ Quest to Create a Safe Workplace.”

• Long-suffering Lions fan and touchdown celebration consultant Keegan Michael-Key was the guest on Rob Lowe’s podcast Literally! recorded in May. The episode was posted online on Thursday, and they get into talking about Michael-Key’s fandom starting at 31:40 in the 68 minute audio. The football-related segment lasts for about 12 minutes and covers why he is a Lions fan, Barry and Calvin’s early retirements, and outstanding football player names.

• A couple of nice shout outs to current Lions players from Pro Football Focus:

• What is the fallout from the Washington Post’s story on the toxic culture exposed in the district’s franchise going to be? USA Today’s Nancy Armour reminds fans of the league’s promises years ago, and believes the other owners should force Dan Snyder out because his team has become an embarrassment to the league and threatens their profitability. An interesting excerpt from an unrelated Friday story by Politico’s Michael Kruse drives home the “bottom line” point:

“NFL ownership is the most exclusive club in the world. You have to be very rich, and you have to be someone that the other owners want to welcome into the club”. . . (Joe) Lockhart, the former NFL and Clinton administration spokesman, told me this month. Three-quarters of the owners, after all, have to approve any newcomer to their ranks—and with 32 teams, that’s 24 owners. “And the owners,” Lockhart continued, “want people who are like them, but they also want people who they think they can trust, and they think will bring value, so that the league will make more money.”

• The official team site posted a “Get to Know” Q&A with newly-signed rookie running back D’Andre Swift. His favorite “meal” sounds like a fantastic side dish, but it’s no fruit salad.