A Club (or a Club Affiliate) and a player (or a Player Affiliate or player agent) may not, at any time, enter into undisclosed agreements of any kind, express or implied, oral or written, or promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or understandings of any kind (a) involving consideration of any kind to be paid, furnished or made available or guaranteed to the player, or Player Affiliate, by the Club or Club Affiliate either prior to, during, or after the term of the Player Contract; and/or (b) concerning the terms of any renegotiation and/or extension of any Player Contract by a player subject to a Franchise Player or Transition Player designation.

Neither the parties hereto, nor any Club or player shall enter into any agreement, Player Contract, Offer Sheet or other transaction which includes any terms that are designed to serve the purpose of defeating or circumventing the intention of the parties as reflected by the provisions of this Agreement. However, any conduct permitted by this Agreement shall not be considered to be a violation of this Section.

Any individual player or the NFLPA acting on that player’s or any number of players’ behalf, the NFL, and any Club may bring a proceeding before the System Arbitrator alleging a violation of Article 7, Article 12, Article 13 or Article 14, Section 2 of this Agreement. Issues of relief and liability shall be determined in the same proceeding. Other than as set forth in Article 7, the complaining party shall bear the burden of demonstrating by a clear preponderance of the evidence that the challenged conduct was in violation of such Article.

In the event the Commissioner disapproves any Player Contract as being in violation of Article 7, Article 9, Article 10, or Article 13, he shall at the time of such disapproval notify the NFLPA, all affected Clubs, and all affected players of such disapproval in writing and the reasons therefor. Except as required by the terms of this Agreement, nothing in this Agreement is intended to affect (i) any authority of the Commissioner to approve or disapprove Player Contracts and (ii) the effect of the Commissioner’s approval or disapproval on the validity of such Player Contracts.

In the event that the Commissioner disapproves a Player Contract pursuant to Section 4 above, the NFLPA, any affected Club, and any affected player shall have the right within thirty (30) days of such person’s notice of such disapproval to initiate a proceeding before the System Arbitrator to determine whether such contract is in violation of this Agreement. The System Arbitrator shall review the dispute de novo, and shall have the authority to approve such Player Contracts in lieu of the Commissioner’s approval, or confirm the Commissioner’s disapproval. In the event the Commissioner’s disapproval is upheld, the player and the Club shall have ten (10) days to attempt to renegotiate such Player Contract notwithstanding any other time period set forth in this Agreement. The System Arbitrator does not have the authority to impose any revisions to such Player Contract on the player or the Club.

In the event that a Club or anyone acting on its behalf fails to materially report or materially misreports AR or non-AR in a manner designed to serve the purpose of defeating or circumventing the intention of the parties as reflected by the provisions of this Agreement with respect to such revenues, the NFLPA and/or the NFL shall have the right to initiate a proceeding before the System Arbitrator to determine whether such conduct is in violation of this Section 7 of this Article. In the event that the System Arbitrator finds a violation of this Section 7, the System Arbitrator may impose a fine upon the Club of up to $5,000,000, payable to the NFL for donation to charitable funds as agreed to by the parties. For each League Year after the 2020 League Year, the maximum fine set forth in this Section shall be adjusted by the same percentage as the change in Projected AR for that League Year as compared to the Projected AR for the prior League Year (up to a maximum of ten percent (10%) per League Year).

Reasonably prior to the initiation of a proceeding alleging a violation of Subsection 1(a) or 1(b) above, the parties shall confer in person or by telephone to attempt to negotiate a resolution of the dispute, and the charging party shall disclose to the other party (either the NFLPA or the NFL, as the case may be) all evidence (whether exculpatory or inculpatory) concerning such alleged violation (and provide a copy of all such evidence in documentary form), including but not limited to any such evidence that is the product of any investigation by or on behalf of the charging party. All such evidence subsequently acquired by the charging party shall be subject to disclosure to the other party in any resulting proceeding. This Section shall not require the disclosure of any attorney-client communication, or any work product created by or at the request of an attorney. In addition, any attempt by the League, the NFL, or any Club to have discipline imposed on any person (including but not limited to a Club) for conduct in violation of Subsection 1(a) or 1(b) above shall be immediately disclosed to the NFLPA.