Facing a lengthy negotiation process with its players union, the NFL may decide to adopt a two-step approach to implementing a new personal conduct policy. The league is mulling a plan to create two separate policies -- one for its players and another for all other employees -- in order to expedite the process, according to Peter King of The MMQB.
NFL considering separate personal conduct policy for players, league employees
Constructing a new deal with the NFLPA could take a while, so the league may opt to move ahead with a separate policy for non-players.
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Roger Goodell promised an overhaul of the current policy in the wake of the Ray Rice scandal. The league would prefer to get it done sooner rather than later as it attempts to appease a concerned fan base, but working with the NFLPA to draw up a new deal with the players could take some time. The league could, however, go ahead and set up a policy to cover the rest of its employees, including owners, executives and coaches. That could get done before Thanksgiving, King reports.
The NFL would then turn its attention to putting together the second stage of the policy, which may or may not end up mirroring the first.
King reports that the new policy could adopt the practice of most public-service sectors, where employees charged with a serious crime are placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case. That differs from the current policy, which in most cases allows the legal process to run its course before handing out punishment. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, for example, was not suspended for his DUI and drug arrest until after admitting his transgressions in court. The new policy would have halted his involvement with the team immediately after his arrest.
The league has been bashed for hiding behind due process in the case of not only Irsay, but Rice and Adrian Peterson. The new policy looks as though it's being designed with that in mind.
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