Report: NFL Players Have Reached Deal With Owners to End Lockout
The NFL Players Association and NFL owners have reached agreement on a collective bargaining agreement, ESPN.com is reporting Sunday.
Late Thursday owners approved a plan to end the four-month lockout.
The NFLPA plans a press conference Monday, but representatives for the players executive committee will convene in Washington, D.C. on Sunday ahead of the vote.
The Associated Press says that the issues of most concern to players are:
"—The league's personal conduct policy;
—Drug testing;
—Benefits, such as pension funds, the disability plan, and the "88 Plan," which provides money for care of former players with dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
The major economic framework for a 10-year deal was worked out a week ago. That included how the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues will be divided (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about $120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011 — and at least that in 2012 and 2013 — plus about $22 million benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on first-round draft picks; and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons. One item in the document ratified by owners that [DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFLPA] said caught players by surprise because it hadn't been discussed during negotiations between the league and players: a supplemental revenue-sharing plan for clubs."
(Photo: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)