Nobody wants a play stoppage, because that means nobody makes money, and neither the owners nor the players are in favor of that, so it was in everyone’s best interest to get this CBA passed and in the books before the 2020 season begins.
With the current Coronavirus scare affecting every aspect of the world’s business and pleasure, not passing this CBA leaves a lot of open-ended questions that would still need to be addressed and that could become increasingly difficult to do when (and if) the 2020 NFL season begins.
60% of the NFL players are not elite playmakers earning top dollar – they are league minimum wage earners and given the opportunity to make an extra $100,000 this year and almost half a million dollars more over the next three seasons was most likely too juicy to pass up.
NFL free agency in 2020 was put on hold until this CBA was handled, so passing it allows all the players with NFL futures up for grabs to begin finding their new homes and negotiating their new deals.
The shift in the league’s marijuana policy no doubt was a huge reason for this CBA passing, since ingesting the plant in various manners is a favorite activity (and medicine) for many players and since the controversial weed is gradually becoming legal nationwide.