Cowboys’ Roy Williams Sees Upside To Lockout

Added on Jun 21, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

While NFL fans cross their fingers hoping for a quick resolution to the league’s labor issues at least one veteran sees a silver lining to the lockout. Dallas Cowboys’ receiver Roy Williams is happy to have some extra time for his body to recover from the battering it gets during the season and he says he’s not alone:

“I talked to a player who was contemplating retirement, but the lockout has gotten his body back to where it needs to be. For us older players, it’s good.”

Williams may or may not have been back with the Cowboys this year regardless of the lockout. Dallas would likely have looked to shed his salary and rid themselves of a player that can sometimes be a distraction. One major reason he’ll be back is the salary cap hit the team would have had to take in order to cut him. They’d much rather pay a player and have his services than not, at least in this case.

There are other advantages for older, veteran players. The lockout at least temporarily slows up the development of younger players that might be otherwise be in a position to compete for jobs. Williams is likely the beneficiary of that scenario as well–the Cowboys have a very talented young receiver in Dez Bryant and the lockout prevents him from getting any offseason coaching or training that would have accelerated his progress.

The best case scenario for football fans, NFL betting enthusiasts and Nevada and offshore sportsbooks is that the lockout will be over soon and the league and its teams can start making preparations to play football. Some more details about the state of the labor negotiations could be known this week with the NFL and its owners set to meet in Chicago. The general consensus among the league’s owners is that a resolution sooner rather than later is in the best interest of everyone concerned. At the same time, there’s a small faction of owners that need to be brought on board due to a view that the current proposal doesn’t go far enough to address the problems facing the league in terms of salaries and revenues.