David Cornwell says there will be no NFL lockout

There has been discussion surrounding a potential NFL lockout after the 2010 season and the more you hear analysts talking the more likely a lockout seems. However, sports attorney David Cornwell believes there will not be a lockout. Cornwell’s opinion should not be easily dismissed. He was one of two finalists for the position of NFLPA Executive Director last March.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com did an excellent job at taking Cornwell’s words and giving a brief summary of the attorney’s statement.

"As Cornwell explains it, the league and the union will negotiate to impasse in March 2011, and the league then will invoke a provision of federal labor law that allows the owners to impose new rules relating to wages and other terms of employment. Under federal labor law, the rules must be substantially similar to the last offer made by the league.The union could then strike. The more likely outcome is that NFLPA would decertify and sue the league for violations of the same antitrust laws at issue in the American Needle case. That’s why the union has been writing editorials for guys like Drew Brees in connection with the American Needle case, and it’s why NFL general counsel Jeff Pash tiptoed around my recent questions regarding whether the league believes it’s a “single entity” for labor purposes."

If Cornwell is correct, NFL fans everywhere will be rejoicing. It just doesn’t seem possible for the most popular sport in America to have a strike. Many cannot even begin to imagine a year without football. Cornwell’s confidence regarding the matter is very refreshing and it brings a hope that many analysts are not giving at the moment.

Let’s all just cross our fingers and hope Cornwell is on to something.