Owners of NFL teams are set to settle the $177 million contribution allotted for the players’ benefits for the 2010 season bringing the total funding of the 32 teams to $245 million.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement the league signed by the NFL Players Association, team owners will be paying their players benefits every end of March. With the expiration of the CBA last March 11 and the dissolution of the players union, the NFL is now under a lockout.

Contributions from team owners covers player benefits, which include pension plans, group medical insurance, disability plan, and the “88” program designed for retired players suffering from dementia and related disorders.

In a statement, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith lamented that the league was not doing its part of the contract by not paying the pension of former players. Defending itself, the NFL said that for the last decade, team owners have contributed over $2.7 billion spread over different benefit packages for current and retired players.

Disagreements in future pension payments have contributed to the failure of the negotiations resulting to the current lockout. The players’ union bared that the league was $10 million short of its obligations in 2010 compared to the previous year.

As part of the uncapped 2010 season, some of the money designed for benefits was instead converted to salary. Team owners will deposit the $177 million to BNY Mellon, a New York based investment service firm.

In a statement, NFL players acknowledged the efforts of John Gordy, one of the prime movers of the players’ benefits. Gordy, who played offensive lineman for the Lions, died in 2010. A three-time Pro Bowler, he retired in 1967 due to knee injury.

Last Monday, four former NFL players filed a class lawsuit against the NFL hoping to join current players in their antitrust case to avert the lockout. The case calls for the league to pay the health, retirement, and other benefits of retired and former players, who are facing potential loss of income in case of an extended lockout.

Shawn Stuckey, who is representing former and upcoming players, said that he would ask the court to merge the cases filed by the retirees and the antitrust suit filed by Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and others.

Prior to the failure of negotiations, league commissioner Roger Goodell sent a letter to current players offering enhanced retirement benefits for players who joined the league before 1993. If the plan pushed through, over 2,000 former players would have availed of an increase in their pension, equivalent to almost 60 percent.

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