Despite public opposition from several superstars, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith is confident the new CBA will be approved.

“For a player that doesn’t want 17 [games] under any reason,” Smith said, “those players will vote their conscience.”

About 60 percent of the players earn the NFL minimum salary, which jumps by about $100,000 in 2020 and tops $1 million per year by 2029.

“There was a concerted effort that they wanted this CBA to go to those core players,” Smith said Thursday, before speaking to agents at the NFL Combine.

While the NFL and NFLPA discuss a new collective bargaining agreement, Adam Schefter of ESPN posted misinformation on Twitter about how the players' percentage of revenue compares to their contemporaries from other sports.

If ratified by majority of players, new deal would give them the highest percentage of revenues of any American professional sport, going to 48% and eventually could climb higher than 48.5% depending on media rights. That would mean more than $5 billion in new money to players.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 26, 2020

NBA players receive between 49 percent and 51 percent of Basketball Related Income from their CBA, while NHL players get 50 percent.

NFLPA representatives have voted to send a new deal already approved by the league's owners that includes a 17-game season to the full union membership.

A simple majority of some 2,000 players must accept the agreement for it to go into effect this year.

The vote to send the proposal to the membership was close, 17-14 with one abstention.

There was no immediate word of when that vote would occur, though it likely will be weeks, as the union attorneys will now go to work on a term sheet on the deal.

The new CBA calls for a 17-game regular season, which is expected to begin in 2021; more roster spots; a shortened preseason; a higher percentage of revenue for players; and upgraded pensions for former players. The owners also agreed to eliminate the $250,000 cap on earnings for players when they get the extra game check for the 17-game season.

The NFL may see their television packages for Sunday afternoon games double from $1 billion annually to $2 billion annually.

CBS and Fox currently hold the rights for those packages. Fox has owned the NFC games since 1994 while CBS has owned ABC rights since 1998. The NFL could eliminate the AFC/NFC split during this renewal. 

ESPN currently pays $2 billion per season for Monday Night Football and that may increase to $3 billion.

The NFL will court offers from streaming platforms, but are unlikely to strike an exclusive deal at this time.

The NFL wants to get a new collective bargaining agreement completed before the 2020 season in order to play it under peace between the owners and players.

The NFL has what may be an even more critical negotiation when they work on new television deals as the ESPN contract expires after the 2021 season and contracts with CBS, Fox and NBC are up after 2022.

“Some inside the league expect a ratings decline during the 2020 season after their numbers fell 8 percent during the last presidential election cycle in 2016,” Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal wrote.

“We are made for broadcast TV, but we are open to streaming," one NFL power-broker told Peter King. "It’s the next big thing, and the tech companies want to be involved in our game. They should. We’re the only lock money-maker in sports.”

A vote on a proposed collective bargaining agreement will go to the full member of the NFL Players Association, even if player reps vote not to recommend approval.

A simple majority of the membership would be required to approve the CBA.

There are 2,100 players eligible to vote.

The NFLPA's executive council voted 6-5 not to recommend the proposal.

The NFL has asked teams for feedback about the possibility of moving games from Sunday to Monday Night Football in mid-season.

Monday Night Football has been plagued with many unattractive matchups late in the season as they have been unable to flex games out the way NBC does with Sunday Night Football.

ESPN has informed the NFL they would like to flex out of late-season games that carry no postseason implications. ESPN has also said they are willing to put Monday Night Football back on ABC.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will host two home games in London in 2020 as they look to boost revenues.

The Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders will move into new stadiums in 2020.

The games will be held on back-to-back Sundays; dates and opponents will be announced in April when the league reveals the schedule. The Jaguars protected home games in Jacksonville against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears, so their London opponents will be two of the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins.

The Jaguars have repeatedly stressed how critical playing in London is for their long-term stability in Jacksonville.

Antonio Brown took accountability for a series of actions he has taken on and off the field over the past year that has put his future in the NFL in jeopardy.

"I think I owe the whole NFL an apology and my past behavior," Brown told Anderson. "I think I could have done a lot of things better."

Brown spoke two days after Roger Goodell said the league's No. 1 concern is Brown's well-being.

"I was pleased to hear that after 140 days that there was some positivity about me because as of late I've just been the cancer of the NFL," Brown said, referencing Goodell's comments at his state-of-the-league address Wednesday. "The problem child, the guy who gets in trouble, the kind of guy who has the bad narrative about him."

Asked whether he believed Goodell, Brown told Anderson: "I'll believe it when we see it."

Asked whether he needs mental health help, Brown added: "We all need mental help."

Brown has been accused of sexual assault by two separate women, which the NFL continues to investigate.