The NFLPA will looking into what happened to cause former Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil to get released. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The National Football League Players Association will look into what happened when contract documents were not received causing the release of Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil, The Denver Post reports.

The Broncos released Dumervil on Friday because paperwork of his restructured deal that included a 2013 salary cut from $12 million to $8 million did not reach the league office by the 4 p.m. ET deadline.

The Broncos were on the hook for Dumervil’s $12 million guaranteed salary if he was not released by that deadline.

DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, has asked for an inquiry into the tardy exchange of contract documents that led the Broncos to release defensive end Elvis Dumervil.

“Due to the procedural elements that were involved in executing the new proposal, we imposed a 1 p.m. MDT deadline for a decision, one hour before the NFL’s waiver wire at 2 p.m. MDT. Our deadline was clearly communicated to Elvis’ representative,” Broncos president John Elway said in the statement. “At 1 p.m. MDT, we were informed by Elvis’ representative that he declined our offer. We then prepared Elvis’ termination notice to officially file his release with the NFL office.”

The NFL and NFLPA are “closing in” on a deal to implement HGH testing, but complications remain. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The NFL and the NFL Players Association are coming close to a deal to implement a human growth hormone testing program for the 2013 season, Yahoo Sports’ Michael Silver reported.

Both the league and players association have put forward proposals to the other side. One of the key points preventing a deal from getting done, Silver reported, is players’ “distrust” of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after his handling of the New Orleans Saints’ “bounty” scandal.

“The long and short of it is, we’re not going to agree to a system that doesn’t give the player full due-process rights on HGH,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told Silver. “That’s where we started, and that’s where we’ll end up. We believe in collective bargaining. The fact that the league would rather force us to accept something that’s not fair, rather than bargaining for it, is worrisome.”

The NFL has agreed to hand off appeals of all positive drug tests to a third-party arbitrator, but union officials want that extended to “other appeals” on incidents such as alcohol-related arrests, marijuana possession, and performance-enhancing drugs. A source also told Silver that there is “no way” players would agree to HGH testing on game days, something for which the NFL has pushed.

The NFLPA’s hedging on a potential deal comes amid public pressure from U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who earlier this year scolded the NFLPA for its “remarkable recalcitrance” on the issue.

The NFL and NFLPA are in hot water with the U.S. Congress over lack of progress on HGH testing. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

In a letter sent to NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, members of the United States Congress and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform warned the NFL that their players may be called to testify about human growth hormone testing.

The NFL and NFLPA agreed on August 4, 2011 to start testing for HGH. The Committee says progress toward testing has been “nonexistent” and that the league has “fallen far behind its counterparts in implementing the agreement,” despite being the first professional sports league to implement testing for its players.

The letter asks NFLPA to provide documents and other information, including the NFLPA’s most recent proposal for HGH testing and information regarding any proposals exchanged between the NFL and the NFLPA during meetings, no later than Feb. 8.  Those meetings were planned for last week and it is not clear if they took place.

“We are disappointed with the NFLPA’s remarkable recalcitrance, which has prevented meaningful progress on this issue,” Representatives Darrell Issa (R-Cal.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said in the letter to the NFL Players Association.  “We intend to take a more active role to determine whether the position you have taken — that HGH is not a serious concern and that the test for HGH is unreliable — is consistent with the beliefs of rank and file NFL players.”

In the wake of Major League Baseball agreeing on a method to randomly test players for Human Growth Hormone (hGH), NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith told his members that the NFL could have beaten baseball to being the first major professional league to develop a testing procedure.

In a letter to players, Smith seems to blame the NFL itself for holding up the process, saying the league is against allowing the players to challenge parts of the hGH test itself. The letter in full, via CBS Sports, is below:

“Men: As you may have heard, MLB and MLBPA reached a collectively bargained agreement with respect to in-season testing for hGH. Critical components of their agreement include: 1) MLB’s Commissioner’s Office must establish the accuracy and reliability of each allegedly positive test; 2) Players may present any evidence to challenge the accuracy, reliability, and thus the underlying scientific support for the test; and 3) all appeals are decided by neutral arbitrators.

If the NFL had adopted the same positions that Major League Baseball has, the NFL could have been the first to implement hGH testing.

However, as you know, the NFL has adamantly resisted allowing Players to challenge the science underlying the hGH test in their proposal. The Board of Player Representatives has insisted on a transparent system and a fair process that allows Players to fully challenge any finding. As you know, this remains your decision. If you have any questions or any desire to change your vote please let us know immediately. Thank you for you leadership.”

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell with guidelines the union expects in wake of the Saints bounty suspensions being overturned. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell received a letter from NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith outlining what the union expects in determining the fate of those players whose suspensions were lifted in the Saints bounty case, reports ESPN.com.

The letter contains issues such as reaffirming the players’ contention no pay-to-injure program ever existed and expressing a willingness to engage in settlement negotiations.

“It’s great these players were vindicated and able to join their teammates on the sideline,” Smith told ESPN. “But at the end of the day, my hope is that our players and fans understand that any time this kind of thing happens, it vindicates the importance of collective bargaining. It vindicates the importance of fairness and it certainly vindicates the notion that power is not absolute.”

A three-member appeals panel reinstated Saints players Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith, Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita and free agent Anthony Hargrove on Friday. Smith has said that there is no proof those players were ever involved in a pay-to-injure scheme.

“I don’t know, and you know that I never guess,” Smith said. “We believe the three-judge panel indicates that clearly there was a violation of the process. So it seems to me the premium now is on making sure the process is correct and fair.”

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith says he wants HGH testing for players by September. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith says he hopes that the league has human growth hormone testing for players by the beginning of the season. The NFL season starts on Wednesday, September 5.

“I hope so, because our players want a clean game,” Smith told Profootballtalk.com, when asked if an HGH program will be in place by the start of the season. ”The players of the National Football League believe that we should be doing everything to make sure that the game is fair and clean.”

The latest collective bargaining agreement had language in it where both sides agreed to the testing, but the players still remain reluctant to pursue it because they question the reliability of a blood-based test and have not approved any process to conduct a program.

Others in the NFL are not so sure if the program will be in place by September.

“It would be a nice surprise,” NFL general counsel Jeff Pash said. “I’m certainly not optimistic.”