NFL Lockout May be Ready to End

By JasmineHughes

The NFL labor issue is almost over. The sides put the final touches on a new collective bargaining agreement to end the lockout early Monday and football will soon be back in business.

The NFL Association executive committee is gathering in Washington on Monday to vote to recommend the deal to the 32 players representatives, who will then recommend the deal to the 1,900 players. The voting process will begin Monday, July 25th, 2011.

According to a source, if the players approve the deal Monday, as expected, beginning Tuesday clubs can start signing their draft choices and rookie free agents. They can also begin talking to veteran free agents, but signings can’t begin until Friday at 6 p.m.

Teams are permitted to report to training camp 15 days before their first preseason game. As a result, camps will open for 10 teams each on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The lockout began on March 11 and has been in effect for 136 days. Owners voted 31-0-1 last week in Atlanta to ratify the deal. The players held off their vote, negotiations continued over the weekend and the final points were agreed to very early Monday morning.

This will put an end to the longest work stoppage in NFL history. But the lockout will be replaced by the wildest free agent period in NFL history as teams scramble to get players signed and fill their rosters for training camp. Because of the lack of an offseason, training camp rosters are being expanded from 80 to 90 players.

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