Two years before a labor lockout ensued in 2011, the NFL Players Association began repeatedly giving the following advice to its members: Save your money.

The union’s hope is that more players listen this time with another work stoppage looming in 2021 upon expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio with co-host Geoff Schwartz and me, NFLPA executive George Atallah allowed that the inability of some players to effectively budget for a long-term impasse contributed to how negotiations unfolded in the last CBA.

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"We wound up in a situation where unfortunately (savings) didn’t happen across the league as much as it could have happened,” Atallah said.

After four months at a standstill, the league and NFLPA reached agreement on a CBA just before the start of the 2011 preseason. That triggered a series of paydays for unsigned rookies, free agents and veterans due roster bonuses that were delayed until the NFL’s calendar year officially began.

There also were no regular-season game checks missed, which would have hit the wallet of every NFL player. SportsBusiness Journal reported the NFLPA took out a $44 million insurance policy that would have paid $200,000 to each player if the entire 2011 campaign was canceled.

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Despite that security and the healthy wage scale for NFL players of all levels, the failure to live within its means or other financial mishaps and hardships created issues among a portion of NFLPA membership that became anxious for the union to accept the league’s CBA offer. Examples of well-paid players who turned to short-term “lockout loans” at interest rates of 20 percent-plus include tackle Bryant McKinnie, cornerback Will D. Allen and quarterback Vince Young.

The average NFL player salary was in the $2 million range for 2009 and 2010. The minimum salaries were $310,000 and $325,000 in those years, respectively. The minimum has increased to $465,000 for the 2017 season with the average player salary at more than $2 million annually.

"In 2009, we were faced with a major sort of signal that the owners were going to try and lock players out,” Atallah said. “We were trying to get as many players prepared as possible."

Atallah said the NFLPA plans to recruit current and former players who went through the 2011 lockout and other work stoppages to offer advice if another labor lockout is on the horizon. Atallah also said “money management is probably the No. 1 thing that we have tried to impress upon players over the last couple of years.”

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"We need players of every generation to really help the young guys understand what it takes to go through some 'labor strife,'" he said. “For the players who went through it in 2011, the union administration and player leadership did everything it could to prepare players across the league. I think it needs to happen again with the same sort of fervor."

Atallah, though, said the NFLPA faces a different challenge than NFL teams whose ownership groups rarely change: a heavy turnover of its members, i.e., the players who help set the agenda for CBA bartering.

"If you think about 250 to 300 players coming in and out of the league every year, 250 to 300 who will be in the 2021 draft are currently 16, 17, 18 years old," Atallah said. "That’s a lot of education and preparation that needs to take place."

Atallah said the ever-changing membership and length of time before the next CBA expires makes it impossible for him to say there is a “must-have” from the NFL in upcoming labor talks.

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"Who knows what those issues are going to be for the player leadership?” Atallah said. “Every summer the (NFLPA) executive committee gets together and takes stock of how the CBA is going, what issues matter to them and what things they want to get changed. Really, that’s on the player leadership and player executive committee to help drive the issues that are most important.”

Alex Marvez can be heard from 7-11 p.m. ET Wednesday on SiriusXM NFL Radio.