Plan B free agency

The Plan B free agency was a type of free agency that became active in the National Football League in February 1989. Plan B free agency permitted all teams in the NFL to preserve limited rights of no more than 37 total players a season. If a player was a protected Plan B free agent, he was incapable of signing with another team without providing his old team the first opportunity to sign him again. The rest of the players were left unprotected, liberated to negotiate contracts with the rest of the teams in the league.

Eight players sued the NFL in U.S. federal court, stating that Plan B was an unlawful restraint of trade. In 1992, a jury found that Plan B violated antitrust laws and awarded damages to the players.

References

• Freeman, Mike. "NFL Is in Violation of Antitrust Laws, Jury Decides", The Tech Online Edition, 11 September 1992. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
• George, Thomas. "FOOTBALL; N.F.L.'s Free-Agency System Is Found Unfair by U.S. Jury", The New York Times, September 11, 1992. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.