Nate Solder calls CBA “a great deal for the core players”

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As NFL players have publicly debated the wisdom of accepting the proposed new Collective Bargaining Agreement, most of the opposition has come from highly paid veterans. But Nate Solder is one highly paid veteran who supports the deal — less for himself than for players who make a lot less than he does.

Solder, the Giants’ union representative, told Peter King in this week’s Football Morning in America that the CBA proposal will be a boon to the players at the bottom.

“This is a great deal for the core players,” Solder told King. “Minimum salaries would go up significantly, with bumped-up benefits for current players and retired players. We’d increase the practice squad [from 10 to 14 by 2022]. Work rules would improve. I don’t think it’s perfect, but we’re making incremental gains on player health and safety. Some players have fallen victim to the thought if we turn this down, we’ll get something better. We might, but we might not. You have a couple of guys on Twitter who have millions of followers criticizing the deal. Other guys who support it might have 5,000 followers. Their voices aren’t loud. In some ways, I’m trying to be a voice for the voiceless.”

Solder said opposition to adding a 17th game disappears when players are told that if they accept the deal that will eventually increase the season to 17 games, minimum salaries increase immediately.

“I’ve asked at least 15 guys on our team, mostly minimum-salary guys or close to that, this question: ‘If you were able to make more money and get better benefits in exchange for a 17th game, would you do it?’ Everyone said yes,” Solder said.

Solder has already made more than $70 million in his NFL career, so he’s pretty far removed from minimum-salary players. But he says he’s attuned to their needs, and supporting the CBA for them.