Giants Owner Says 2006 CBA Extension Was "A Mistake"

“We made a mistake, no question about it. And we deserve criticism for making that mistake. The players, themselves, have acknowledged that they made a great deal back in 2006 and there were a number of us, myself included, who didn’t fully understand what we were doing in 2006. We understood pretty quickly, within about a year after that. At the end of the day, we’re businessmen who love football and we want to get a deal done that makes sense for our businesses and that’s good for the game and allows the game to grow. There is a deal there to be made that would be fair for both sides.”
- New York Giants owner John Mara on the 2006 CBA extension.

Thirty owners voted for the extension of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2006. Bengals owner Mike Brown and Bills owner Ralph Wilson, voted against it. Why did Brown vote against it?

"It is a very good deal for players. It's good for high-revenue teams," he said. "It's a challenge for low-revenue teams. We didn't feel it was in the best interest of our team financially."

What would have Brown done?

“I would have preferred at this time no deal,” Brown said. “That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have continued on. We have a contract for two more years when we made this deal. I would have wanted to bargain for a better deal in the future.”

So while many are bemoaning the fact that Bengals owner Mike Brown was one of four owners representing the NFL in mediation last week, just know that the Prophet of the CBA was in attendance.