It ended up rescheduling three games amid a surge in positive COVID-19 cases.
NFL players association president JC Tretter said Wednesday the NFL was close to canceling the three games it postponed in Week 15.
The league moved Saturday's game between the Raiders and Browns to Monday and rescheduled the Eagles-WFT game and Seahawks-Rams games initially set for Sunday to Tuesday.
Tretter, who is the Browns' starting center, said, per Cleveland.com, “The NFL's position last week was that those three games were going to be canceled. They weren't going to be played, and if they weren't played, than nobody on either team was going to be paid. That's obviously an issue for us as a union when over 18% of our player population was at risk of not getting paid last week.”
Ahead of this season, the NFL informed teams that games could be forfeited in the event that an outbreak caused by unvaccinated players would lead to a cancellation.
“I don't worry about standings, I don't worry about record, I don't worry about those things as president,” Tretter said. “I worry about making sure our guys are paid, and that was my concern.”
More NFL Coverage:
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- Browns Digest: Moving Games Doesn't Fix Problems Created by NFL
For more news on the Browns Digest, head over to Cleveland Browns.