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NFL Players' Union Decertifies

WASHINGTON (KDKA) -- Talks have broken down between the NFL and the union representing players.

The NFL Players Association decertified just before the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement.

At 5 p.m., the union voted to decertify. That means, this issue will now be decided in court. Players didn't waste any time, filing anti-trust lawsuit papers against the owners Friday.

"We met with the owners until about four o'clock today," DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA executive director, said. "We discussed a proposal that they had presented. At this time, significant differences continue to remain."

"We informed the owners that significant differences remained, that if there was going to be a request for an extension that we asked for 10 years of audited financial records to accompany any extension," he added.

Meantime, the NFL says the players' union walked away from a "very good" deal, which included keeping the current 16 regular season game schedule for the next two years.

"We offered today to split the difference and meet the union in the midpoint with a player compensation number that would have been equivalent to player compensation in 2009 and above player compensation in 2010," Jeff Pash, NFL lead negotiator, said.

"And we offered to grow it from there over four years by $20 million a club to the point where in 2014, the player compensation number was the union's number – it was the number the union proposed to us and we accepted it. That wasn't good enough," Pash said.

He went on to say the NFL is discouraged, but not giving up, adding they are willing to go back to the bargaining table.

The NFL says it has not made a decision yet on whether they will lock out the players.

Read the full NFL statement at NFLLabor.com.

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