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NFL Lockout Ends With A Handshake Between Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith

2011-07-25T19:24:14Z

The NFL lockout is over and professional football is back just in time for the start of training camp. After months of laborious negotiations, the owners and players were finally able to form a consensus and come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. With billions of dollars hanging in the balance, negotiations turned into a high-stakes game of chicken, with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith battling back-and-forth before finally coming together to hammer out a deal and convince their constituencies it was fair.

As the lockout ended, Smith and Goodell met with the media in a joint press conference to announce their triumph. The news was met with jubilation from NFL fans as our long national nightmare was over.

The following photo captures the moment perfectly as Smith and Goodell shake hands to signal the end of the lockout while standing in front of a photo of Gene Upshaw.

Via the NFLPA

And with that, it ended ... finally. Now, back to our regularly scheduled football programming.

NFL Lockout: NFLPA Executive Committee Approves Settlement

2011-07-25T18:06:57Z

And with that, the NFL lockout is inches from the finish line. On Monday morning, the NFLPA executive committee voted to approve a settlement negotiated over the weekend, setting the table for an official end to the lockout. The owners approved a proposal to end the lockout on Thursday, though it contained items the NFLPA had not seen, causing a momentary uproar. A weekend of negotiations calmed some nerves as DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell hammered out a few remaining issues ahead of Monday's vote.

With the executive committee's approval, all that's left is a vote by the players, who are expected to follow the committee's recommendation. NFLPA executive director of external affairs George Atallah put it simply when announcing the results of the vote.

It's Unanimous.

With the lockout settled, business is about to pick up in the NFL. A tentative free agency schedule was released on Monday morning, with the first actual moves set to begin early Tuesday morning. Training camps will also open quickly as teams stagger starts throughout the week beginning on Wednesday.

The NFL lockout settlement is contingent on the NFLPA reforming as a union, though they have about two weeks to do so. The players are expected to vote to recertify using union cards distributed at team facilities and training camps.

We'll be back with more as it becomes available. For the latest news and updates, stay with our NFL lockout StoryStream. Head over to Field Gulls for a breakdown of the lockout.

NFL Lockout Not Quite Done, NFLPA Upset About Owners' Proposal

2011-07-21T23:59:08Z

The NFL lockout is not quite over, and there still remains at least one significant hurdle to clear. For a moment, the headlines were all optimistic, with the players set to ratify the owners proposal at 5 p.m. and the lockout set to be lifted by Saturday. All was well in the world and it appeared free agency was all but certain to begin in just two days.

But Sports Illustrated's Jim Trotter would like to remind us all to pump the brakes.

you can take it to the bank that the players are not going to ratify this proposal as currently presented.

And ESPN's Chris Mortensen came along to explain why. Put simply, the owners made a power play with their vote and the proposal, forcing the NFLPA into an awkward position.

"It puts onus on players to make a decision to agree; paints us into a corner with fans. We'll discuss tonight but the idea of reconstituting as a union as never been a slam dunk as the owners have already assumed."

Another high-ranking NFLPA official: "We are not happy here. We had to honor to not vote on an agreement that was not final (Wednesday). This is not over. This actually takes away incentives from players to vote yes tonight."

So it's not quite over yet. The NFLPA is still on the fence about the recertification issue and the owners pushing them into the corner was not well-received. The NFL side of the deal jumped the gun, voted to approve their own proposal and left the players in a less than ideal position just half an hour before they were set to vote.

It all means the players will likely head back to the negotiating table to hammer out a few more key issues, including the reformation of their union. It's not over, but it's close -- almost painfully so.

We'll be back with more as it becomes available. For the latest news and updates on the ongoing labor battle, stay with our NFL lockout StoryStream. Head over to Field Gulls for a breakdown of the lockout.

2011 NFL Free Agency Dates Tentatively Set As NFL Lockout Nears End

2011-07-21T23:36:53Z

The NFL lockout is nearly over, and all that's left is a vote by the NFLPA and the condition that the players' union recertifies. With that, the attention turns to free agency and the key dates for it all to take place. While announcing that the owners had ratified a proposal to end the lockout, Roger Goodell discussed a few key dates, including the beginning of free agency.

Essentially, Saturday is the day clubs can begin attempting to re-sign drafted rookies and free agents. Sunday is the day teams can sign undrafted free agents. And on Wednesday, everything goes out the window and madness commences as open season on free agents is declared.

Here's the brief schedule, courtesy of NFLLabor.com. It is tentative, and comes with the condition that the players agree to the proposal and become a union again.

July 23 Voluntary training, conditioning and classroom instruction permitted until first day of clubs' preseason training camps.

July 23 Pre-2011 League Year Period commences. 2011 Free Agency List to be issued and will become effective on the first day of the 2011 League Year (July 27). Clubs/players may begin to renegotiate contracts. Clubs may begin to sign Drafted Rookies and their own UFAs, RFAs, Exclusive Rights Players and Franchise Players.

July 23 Waivers begin for the 2011 League Year.

July 23 Starting at 2:00 PM ET, clubs may negotiate with, but not sign, Undrafted Rookie Free Agents, free agents, and other clubs' UFAs, RFAs, and Franchise Players.

July 24 Starting at 2:00 PM ET, clubs may begin to sign undrafted rookie free agents.

July 27 2011 League Year commences at 2:00 PM ET, provided NFLPA has ratified CBA. Free Agency Signing Period begins. Clubs may sign free agents and other clubs' Unrestricted Free Agents. Clubs may sign Offer Sheets. Trading period begins. All Clubs must be under the Salary Cap. Top 51 rule applies.

Everything is compressed, and jammed into a week or two of free agency. At the same time, training camps will begin to open and players will report to training facilities, as well. Because the lockout dragged on so long, this is what we're stuck with.

NFL Lockout Agreement Nearly Reached: Training Facilities Could Open Saturday; League Year Wednesday

2011-07-21T23:26:05Z

The NFL will not wait for the NFLPA to recertify as a union and will, instead, fire up the league year as soon as possible, should the players vote to ratify the agreement to end the NFL lockout. Speaking to reporters, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced the good news after the owners ratified the new collective bargaining agreement by a 31-0 vote, with Al Davis' Oakland Raiders abstaining. If the players approve the agreement on Thursday night, as expected, there will be a one-day break, then training facilities will open this weekend.

Previously, many felt the league would wait for the NFLPA to recertify before firing up the league year and allowing players to sign and teams to make transactions. That will not happen, and the league year will begin on Wednesday, should everything move forward as planned in the next few hours. Wednesday is scheduled to be the day free agency begins as it stands now, and would mark the opening of a wild week of transactions, with an entire offseason crammed into about seven days.

Players could begin to sign their own free agents and draft picks as soon as the proposal is ratified, according to Jeff Pash, but contracts would be in a state of suspense until an actual agreement is put into place. The NFLPA would have to recertify for any kind of league year to begin, Pash said, and would create a situation where the league is in a holding pattern, making the Wednesday date less than firm at this point.

The NFLPA is set to vote at 5 p.m. PDT and is expected to approve the agreement to end the NFL lockout. The agreement is for 10 years, and should ensure we don't have to go through this again anytime in the near future.

NFL Lockout Agreement Ratified By Owners, Players Up Next

2011-07-21T23:06:05Z

The NFL lockout is inching closer to a close and cleared one major hurdle just moments ago as the owners voted to ratify the agreement. This, essentially, means the deal is halfway home, with the players expected to do the same in just under an hour. Once passed, the NFL may resume, or it may wait until the NFLPA recertifies in the near future.

The news was reported by NFL Network's Albert Breer, with a simple tweet that says it all.

Resolution passed by the owners.

The vote was passed by a 31-0 margin, and you'll never guess who abstained. Al Davis, you guys!

Final voting result according to @richeisen: 31-0 (Oakland Raiders abstained).

The NFLPA, operating as a trade union, will now hold a conference call to ratify the agreement, as well. If it passes, and there's no indication it won't, the NFLPA would then have to become a union again, a stipulation the owners have held tight to. This process could take days or longer, and Chester Pitts believes it will be at least two weeks until teams are able to open training camps.

The agreement the owners ratified is set to last 10 years, and will form the basis of the NFL for that time period. It includes a revenue sharing plan more slanted in the owners favor, and concessions from both sides that were hammered out in the past few weeks with the deadline for training camps to begin looming.

NFL Lockout Agreement Votes Should Take Place Thursday Evening, Says Chester Pitts

2011-07-21T22:43:00Z

Seattle Seahawks player representative Chester Pitts has been making the media rounds over the last two days, updating the public on the progress of the talks to end the NFL lockout. Pitts was optimistic on ESPN just moments ago, and hinted at a vote taking place at 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday evening. The player vote on an agreement to end the NFL lockout is one of the final hurdles remaining, though the biggest is the recertification of the NFLPA.

The owners are holding steadfast in their requirement that the NFLPA becomes a union again after it decertified at the start of the NFL lockout. Even if both sides approve the deal, it will not be put into affect until another vote is taken and the NFLPA forms again, adding another wrinkle to the timetable for the beginning of football. As of Thursday morning, there was some debate about re-forming the union, and the time it would take to properly do so.

Because of all the hurdles, however big or small, that need to be cleared to end the NFL lockout, Pitts is less than optimistic about an accelerated timeframe for the start of training camps and football. On Wednesday night, he felt it would be two weeks before the NFL lurched into motion -- with a free agency period and the NFLPA vote standing in the way.

He held to that timetable on Thursday, telling ESPN, "I would be shocked if this happened in under a week. It may be closer to a two-week timetable."

For now, the vote on an agreement should be encouraging. Neither the NFL or NFLPA would hold a vote if they didn't have the necessary votes in place to pass it. If it does, in fact, happen on Thursday night, it's likely the agreement will go through, beginning the process of ending the lockout.

NFL Lockout Vote Hasn't Taken Place As Players Debate Agreement

2011-07-20T19:29:47Z

The NFLPA, or union formerly known as the NFLPA, was supposed to vote on the terms of an agreement to end the NFL lockout on Wednesday, clearing one of the final hurdles left between the two sides and a return to football. But it hasn't happened as of yet, and there is some strong dissension in the room as the players debate amongst themselves on the terms of an agreement negotiated by Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith and a team of representatives from both the player and owner sides.

So, time to panic, right? We were all told the vote was a formality and these hurdles would be minor compared to what it took to reach an agreement. Chris Mortensen reminds the American public that this is a normal part of the process, and is consistent with the environment union leaders thought they'd meet on Wednesday.

There is real debate & some dissent on certain issues w/ proposal. Part of process but consistent w Mawae's assessment. No rubberstamping. It doesn't mean there won't be a vote at some point, it is not unsual to hear about such debate at this stage. These things are fluid and can change swiftly so no reason to over-react as this point.

There's still plenty of time to vote on Wednesday and it's unlikely the players leave their meeting without taking a vote to ratify the agreement. But part of the process includes a healthy debate and explanation of the major issues before jumping into ratifying the deal. The NFLPA is doing its due-diligence one more time in the final stages of the NFL lockout.

While the players aren't quite back to work yet, it seems all but certain that the NFL will be back in action within the next week or so. And when the action begins again, the schedule will be unlike anything we've ever seen before, with a free agency period that resembles a chaotic, and high-stakes, game of roulette.

For the latest news and updates on the ongoing labor battle, stay with our NFL lockout StoryStream. Head over to Field Gulls for a breakdown of the lockout.