NFL, Players Association Discussing Potential 2021 Opt Outs

We saw plenty of NFL players opt out last year, and now NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith says he wants that option available to players again in 2021. Just a few weeks ago, numerous teams decided against offseason workouts, and now this.

Here's what NFLPA president and Browns center J.C. Tretter said about the union's position on boycotting OTAs:

"This is not a 2021 offseason issue. This will be an issue year after year," he said.

We at OutKick have always insisted that players who feel threatened by COVID should exercise their right to the vaccine and that all players with a documented medical condition should have the legal authority to protect themselves free of consequence. Otherwise, we should see them on the field for OTAs. Pretty simple process there.

As of now, the negotiations aren't exactly clear. Are they positioning themselves for the legal authority to opt out any season they please? At some point, we have to remember who's working for whom here.

Also, I can't see how boycotting a voluntary workout is impactful for negotiations with the owners. Players don't want to show up? Then we can assume that owners will counter by finding their replacements.