“The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement, so there will be no further comment from either party,” the statement said. Kaepernick, who earned $14.3 million in 2016, filed his lawsuit against the league under the current collective agreement in 2017. Reid, meanwhile, was the first player to join the kneeling movement during the national anthem, after Kaepernick did so to protest racial inequality and police brutality. The confidential deal was widely hailed as a victory for the players. But the settlement is far less than the tens of millions of dollars that Mr. Kaepernick in particular would likely have owed if his complaint had prevailed. It has not been possible to determine how the payout will be distributed among the players and how much they will earn net after the legal fees. The league and Kaepernick`s lawyer sent statements Friday saying that “the parties have decided to settle the pending complaints” and that a confidentiality agreement would prevent both parties from commenting further. On Thursday, however, the Wall Street Journal reported that the amount of money Kaepernick had is nowhere near as high as initially thought. According to the Journal`s report, Kaepernick — along with Panthers security Eric Reid — will be under $10 million after attorneys` fees were removed from the settlement — the terms of which are confidential. The players agreed to drop their lawsuit against the NFL in February, with Kaepernick reportedly telling the league he would do so in exchange for a lucrative settlement. The NFL will pay far less than $10 million to settle complaints filed by Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, according to two people with knowledge of the deal who were not authorized to speak publicly. An NFL spokesman declined to comment.
A lawyer for Kaepernick and Reid said they were abiding by the agreement`s confidentiality agreement. Much of the settlement will cover the fees of lawyers representing Kaepernick and Reid, one of those familiar with the deal said Thursday, and players will receive smaller and roughly equal amounts. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed Kaepernick`s seemingly permanent free agent status two weeks before settlement during his press conference in Atlanta for Super Bowl 53. According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, the publication was informed that Kaepernick would only withdraw his case if “a lucrative settlement” was reached between him and the league. FILE – In this October 11, 2018 file photo, former NFL football quarterback Colin Kaepernick continues to smik. [+] Stage during the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal Ceremonies at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid have reached a settlement on their collusion lawsuits against the NFL, the league announced Friday, Feb. 19, 2019.
(AP Photo/Steven Senne, file) An NFL spokesman and one of Kaepernick`s lawyers declined to comment Thursday, citing the confidentiality agreement. What did the NFL actually pay for in the Kaepernick/Reid comparison? Second, and perhaps even more blatant for the league, it seems that the NFL didn`t get Kaepernick or Reid not to talk about the league after their deal. Kaepernick`s videos shot at the NFL, and no voice has hammered home the partnership between the league and Jay-Z more frankly in recent days than Reid. First, there are all the statements and evidence of discovery in the collusion case that should have remained sealed under the collective agreement. Part of this discovery process and subsequent cross-examination focused on the connections between NFL team owners and Trump`s politically charged rhetoric. Several owners and executives who were prominent Trump supporters made statements. Among them were four owners who not only had private conversations with the president about the NFL, but also made a significant political financial contribution to Trump: the late owner of the Houston Texans, Bob McNair, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, Stephen Ross, and the owner of the New England Patriots. Robert Kraft. Denver Bronco general manager John Elway — also a Trump political supporter — was also fired in the case. So did NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who became the policeman of the traffic between the owners, who spent much of the 2017 season battling Trump`s political attacks and players` protests against social justice. It is still unclear whether the NFL admitted wrongdoing or how much money Reid, Kapernick or others may have received.
Given the loss of salary claimed by both players and the legal fees, the settlement could have reached the order of a million in double digits. First of all, it`s crystal clear that Kaepernick never agreed to stop looking for a job under the settlement terms reached with the league. Any doubt about this has been dispelled by a handful of videos posted on Kaepernick and Reid`s social media accounts — all with the remark that Kaepernick is “always ready” and “still denied work.” The Wall Street Journal first reported the estimated amount of the settlement, which included a confidentiality agreement. In fact, the only news containing details about the settlement were conflicting reports on the number of financial settlements. To date, no NFL source has been willing to confirm Yahoo Sports` settlement figures, while Kaepernick`s lawyers have declined to comment on the case`s conclusion. According to most reports, these realities make this whole regulation ugly for the League. Either that or there was a misunderstanding about what the NFL was actually trying to regulate. What exactly did the NFL buy with this deal? It certainly doesn`t seem that this whole conversation has been forced to disappear. Nor does he seem to have bought a significant amount of silence.
Right now, the settlement seems remarkably weak given two of the realities that have become apparent: with Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid settling their collusion case against the NFL last Friday, it certainly implies that both sides saw potential to lose the deal. (Read Mike McCann`s excellent legal analysis of the issues both parties had to consider before the settlement.) Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, pictured in 2018, reached an agreement with the league over his allegations of collusion between the teams. Steven Senne/AP Hide the legend Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Panthers safety Eric Reid will receive less than $10 million in a financial settlement with the NFL, according to the Wall Street Journal. The details of the agreement are not public. But, as the Associated Press notes, “given the loss of salary claimed by both players and legal fees, the settlement could have reached the double-digit range of one million.” The settlement ended the complaint that the alleged NFL owners had worked together to keep Kaepernick out of the league because of his pre-game protest — he knelt during the national anthem — to draw attention to police brutality and racial inequality. Reid, a former Teammate of Kaepernick`s who also got on his knees before games, filed a similar complaint last May. “Over the past few months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Kaepernick have advised.
Reid has maintained an ongoing dialogue with NFL officials,” the league statement said. “As a result of these discussions, the parties decided to resolve the pending complaints. The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement, so there will be no further comments from the parties. The NFL Players` Association issued a statement of support following the announcement of the deal. “We have always supported Colin and Eric since the beginning of their protests, participated with their lawyers throughout their trial, and were ready to participate in the upcoming trial to get both truth and justice for what they believe the NFL and its clubs have done to them,” the NFLPA said. It bears repeating that we will probably never know exactly what the NFL settled for last February when it reached a financial settlement to end the collusion case brought by Kaepernick and Reid. To date, none of the parties appear to disclose significant details of the agreement – presumably because a strict confidentiality agreement has been reached. While the settlement was considered a victory, it wasn`t so financially rewarding if Kaepernick and Reid had won their lawsuit. According to the Journal, the league`s collective bargaining agreement would have put players online to receive damages, up to three times the amount a referee determined the players would have lost if they had been kept off the field. That could have put Kaepernick in a position to get up to $90 million, given the two NFL seasons he missed. What`s next for Kaepernick? While many consider any amount granted by the NFL in the rules to be a victory, Kaepernick`s biggest win would be a return to the field.
According to Kevin O`Hagan, a Chicago-based attorney and NFL agent, Kaepernick will likely have to be willing to accept less than the $20 million he would have demanded from the Alliance of America Football and the XFL. The amount of the settlement announced in February has been the subject of speculation since the case was settled. Mark Geragos, the lawyer for both players, said in a statement at the time that “the resolution of this case is subject to a confidentiality agreement.” Players` union officials said Friday afternoon that they had just learned of the deal and no details. .