After Thursday's confusion when NFL owners
surprised players with a "deal" that hadn't in fact been negotiated between the two groups, things moved quickly, and today,
they voted to approve a new collective bargaining agreement. According to NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith:
"We wanted to let everyone know who loves this game that the executive committee and board of player reps of the National Football League unanimously recommended the approval of the deal.
"Obviously, we have a collective bargaining ratification process that has yet to start. We have a recertification effort that is going to be one of the most intense and significant unionization efforts, certainly one of the most public unionization efforts in our history. Our men believe they should make this decision as players. They'll make the decision of recertification as players. They'll make the decision of ratifying the CBA that addresses health and asfety issues, and benefits, that you know have been important to us.
Things will keep moving quickly from here:
• Monday: The NFL will announce that teams can go to 90-man rosters and the official free-agent list will be distributed to teams.
• Tuesday: Trading begins. Teams can reach agreements with rookies and undrafted free agents beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Teams can reach agreements with all free agents and signed players are allowed to enter team facilities.
• Wednesday: Players can begin reporting to training camps 15 days before their first preseason games. According to the proposed timeline, 10 teams would report on Wednesday, 10 more on Thursday and 10 additional teams on Friday. The New York Jets and Houston Texans would be the last two teams to report, on Sunday.
Look for the terms of the CBA, and the winners and losers, to be endlessly debated. Players won some key advances on health and safety issues and retiree benefits; for instance, current players will be able to remain in the medical plan for life, a crucial benefit for a sport with such long-lasting and life-altering health impacts.
(Given that, you almost couldn't blame Brett Favre for thinking about one more comeback.)
Though the CBA lasts until 2021, the length of the season will be revisited during its lifetime.