8 Players Sue NFL Over Free Agency

A group of eight NFL players, including quarterback Don Majkowski of the Green Bay Packers, filed suit against the league Tuesday in federal district court in Newark, N.J., charging that the NFL’s restrictive free-agency system violates federal antitrust laws.

The other members of the group are cornerback Tim McDonald of the Phoenix Cardinals, cornerback Mark Collins and running back Lee Rouson of the New York Giants, offensive lineman Irv Eatman of the Kansas City Chiefs, offensive lineman David Richards of the San Diego Chargers, running back Freeman McNeil of the New York Jets and defensive lineman Niko Noga of the Detroit Lions.

“We’re not trying to be troublemakers,” Richards said. “But the system is not right and needs to be changed.”

The players, whose contracts have expired, were conditional free agents protected by their teams under the free-agency period that ended April 1. None received an offer to move to another team during the two-month period for such offers, said James Quinn, a New York lawyer representing the players.

Quinn said the league’s compensation system for conditional free agents requires teams to give up too much in draft choices to make such signings worthwhile. The suit, the latest in a court battle between the players and the owners since the 1987 players’ strike, seeks to overturn that system.

John Jones, a spokesman for the NFL Management Council, said Tuesday night that the owners’ bargaining group had not received a copy of the suit. But the council said in a statement that the litigation would not help solve the sport’s labor dispute.