When it comes to the question of whether the NFL’s refusal to accept quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s application for the supplemental draft violates the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the NFL Players Association is in a very awkward spot.
Sorsby isn’t a member of the NFLPA. He won’t be a member until he’s drafted or goes undrafted and signs a free-agent contract. Anything the NFLPA may do to challenge the NFL’s position on Sorsby would amount to prioritizing the rights of a non-member over the rights of a member.
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If Sorsby is drafted by a team with 90 players on the roster, a current union member would lose his job. And if Sorsby is picked high enough to guarantee a spot on the 53-man roster, a current union member eventually would be out of a job when the rosters are cut.
The issue of the NFLPA’s duty to current members when a non-member tries to secure access to the draft was mentioned in the appeals court ruling from the Maurice Clarett case in 2004.
“[B]y reducing competition in the market for entering players, the eligibility rules also affect the job security of veteran players,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit wrote when finding that Clarett’s attack on the three-year rule should be rejected. “Because the size of NFL teams is capped, the eligibility rules diminish a veteran player’s risk of being replaced by either a drafted rookie or a player who enters the draft and, though not drafted, is then hired as a rookie free agent.”
If push comes to shove, the NFLPA arguably should oppose Sorsby’s effort to force a supplemental draft. Even though he’ll eventually be a member of the union, he currently is not. The union has a duty only to its current members. And one of them undoubtedly would be affected adversely if the NFL lets Sorsby in.
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That doesn’t eliminate Sorsby’s ability to challenge the NFL’s position on his own. No decision in that regard has been announced. Given that time is of the essence when it comes to the possibility of securing a court order forcing the NFL to conduct a supplemental draft with Sorsby in the draft pool, every second counts. With each day that passes without a lawsuit being filed, the chances of a lawsuit ever being filed will drop.
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