New York Giants Season Saved By NFLPA And NFL Coming To Deal

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - AUGUST 08: A general view of MetLife Stadium during the first half of a preseason game between the New York Jets and the New York Giants on August 08, 2019 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

For a while, there was a decent chance the New York Giants wouldn’t play the 2020 season. The season was in doubt for every team and the Giants’ NFLPA representative, Nate Solder, even stated earlier this year that the league needed to get it together or there would be no football. As the time until training camp continued ticking away and no deal was made, it started to look more likely that Solder’s words would come true.

However, the league has finally reached an agreement with the player’s union and the season, for now at least, is saved.

The league announced the agreement on Friday after it was reported by multiple sources. In the long release, there’s further details about just what the deal means for the season and the upcoming games.

The agreed-upon deal includes an allowance for 16-man practice squads, high-risk and voluntary opt-outs of participation and the absence of a preseason for 2020, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.

 

For players who opt out of participating, high-risk candidates will receive a $350,000 stipend and their contract will toll, per Pelissero. Voluntary opt-outs will receive a $150,000 salary advance and their contract will toll as well. Opt-outs are due within seven days of the deal being finalized.

We might not see every fan favorite player thanks to the ability for players to opt out, but at the end of the day the decision is for player safety and there’s a financial incentive for players to keep playing if they don’t believe the risk is too big for their health.

We don’t know yet if there will be fans in the stands at any point during the 2020 season yet, but it’s still pretty good news that the season is set to happen at all after the negotiations between the league and the union nearly kept it from happening at all. After all, there’s still plenty of questions that need to be answered on the field about the New York Giants this season, and we won’t find out the answers until the team is finally given another chance to play.