The players want the NFL to get rid of the antiquated funding rule, a shield for players that has over time become a sword used against fully-guaranteed contracts. The NFL’s latest (and presumably for now final) offer includes an enhanced funding-rule credit.
As previously reported by PFT, the league had been willing to give teams a $10 million per year credit, allowing them to guarantee that much money in future years without funding it. The proposal made Thursday to the players bumps that number to $15 million in 2020, and increases it to $17 million in 2029.
The funding rule was adopted to protect players against the potential insolvency of owners. In more recent years, as every team has been swimming in cash, the funding rule has been used as an excuse by owners to not include future guarantees in contracts.
With or without the funding rule, teams that don’t want to guarantee amounts in future years won’t. So it really doesn’t matter if it’s in place or not.