by Alex Marvez

Updated: May 23, 2008, 11:40 AM EST 78 comments

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Unhappy about financial terms of its labor deal with the NFL Players' Association, team owners voted unanimously Tuesday morning to opt out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Yet even before the NFL's spring meeting had ended, big money had started to flow once again.

Dallas signed two players (cornerback Terrence Newman and running back Marion Barber) to contract extensions totaling $95 million with $38.5 million guaranteed. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan also inked the most lucrative rookie contract in league history.

The timing stemmed from Atlanta and Dallas wanting to strike agreements before the CBA rules officially changed on Wednesday morning. But such spending also doesn't generate public sympathy for the NFL or its players union.

The two sides already are squabbling about how to divide billions of dollars in revenues. The rhetoric will only get more heated as the league moves toward a potential work stoppage in 2011.

At the league's spring meeting Tuesday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the current labor deal "isn't working." NFLPA chief Gene Upshaw quickly countered. He claimed owner greed and in-fighting as the main reasons this CBA failed just two years after being approved by a 30-2 vote.

"They hate paying players," Upshaw said in a media conference call. "They hate paying players and sharing [revenue] with the other [owners] even more."

Falcons owner Arthur Blank declined to comment Tuesday night on the CBA situation. But more than any of his peers, Blank was the most affected this past year by clauses the NFL wants amended.

The CBA rule prohibiting teams from recouping bonuses paid to players who "subsequently breach their contracts or refuse to perform" was described in a league-issued statement as "simply irrational and unfair." Blank was the biggest loser on that front. A federal judge ruled the Falcons can't recoup roughly $20 million paid to Michael Vick even though the quarterback is currently in jail on dog-fighting charges.

Blank then suffered a double-whammy when making Ryan the No. 3 pick in this year's draft. Ryan was signed to a six-year, $72 million contract that included an NFL rookie-record $34.75 million in guaranteed cash.

Heaven forbid Ryan get sent to the pokey, because Blank may then have to sell his Home Depot franchises to pay for another quarterback.

The NFL and NFLPA do have something in common. Both sides have tried to remind fans that football will be played for the next three seasons without interruption.

Still, the impact of Tuesday's CBA opt-out will be felt immediately.

Three of the top five draft picks that remain unsigned — Chris Long (St. Louis), Darren McFadden (Oakland) and Glenn Dorsey (Kansas City) — face a more complicated contract negotiation under new CBA rules. Some members of the 2009 free-agent class also may seek one-year deals in hopes the NFL is forced into an uncapped season in 2010.

To avoid future headaches, Upshaw said he expects some franchises to offer talented young players multiyear extensions long before their current deals expire.

"The teams that act wisely will start acting wisely sooner," he said. "They will lock their players up. They don't want to lose them. They don't know what's going to happen either. But at the end of the day, the players are going to get what they deserve."

But will the fans? That depends on whether a new CBA can be reached before the NFL heads into what Upshaw calls "no man's land" in 2011.

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