NFL Owners and Players Finally Appear in Sync on New CBA
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
It appears an agreement has been reached and NFL football is just a day from its return to normalcy after a four-month lockout, according to several reports.
ESPN reported Sunday night that the executive board of the players union would vote Monday to approve the new collective bargaining agreement, while organizations such as the Associated Press and Foxsports.com said an agreement was reached Monday morning.
The owners overwhelmingly approved the new CBA on Thursday, but the players delayed their vote to have the weekend to look over some of the details. There has been some caution the last two days only because the two sides have appeared to be close to a deal for weeks but then nothing happened.
But most agree this deal has the necessary votes from the players union to go through.
Just a few minor tweaks have been added to how this week is expected to go. Players will report to their respective team facilities Tuesday, presumably to vote to recertify NFLPA as a union, writes Foxsports.com. Then, beginning Thursday, 10 teams will report to training camp, followed by another 10 teams on Friday and the remaining 12 will be report for training camp over the weekend.
But there are still many unanswered questions. There is the matter of free agent signings, rookie contracts and whether the preseason schedule will be affected by the delays.
The executive committee still has to vote Monday for everything to be official, so there is still a possibility of more delays. A press conference is planned for Monday to make the announcement.
Contact Terrance Harris at terrancefharris@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Terranceharris