Posted by Ryan Wilson

After a three-month staring contest that appeared to accomplish little, there is finally some movement on the lockout front. Optimists think it could be settled in the next week or two, while the glass-half-empty set pegs mid-July as the more likely scenario.

Either way, that means real live NFL football, complete with free agency, training camp and a season that starts on time. While we wait for the owners and players to work out the details, we're left to speculate on, well, just about everything.

Not having organized team activities and minicamps will make it tougher for rookies to transition from college to the NFL, and the lockout didn't do any favors for those undrafted free agents who remain unsigned. But Browns' left tackle Joe Thomas doesn't think missing spring workouts is the worst thing in the world.

Appearing on Denver's 102.3 The Ticket, he explains:

"I think it can be good and it can be bad," Thomas said. … [F]or some of the veteran guys and the veteran teams, the OTA minicamp, all the spring work and stuff like that maybe became a little bit too much and could be a little bit of extra grind on the body and the mind. Come January and February people were a little bit worn down and those same veteran teams and I think Green Bay is going to be especially rewarded for the team they have.

"You kinda take a step back and you get a chance to think about other things and refocus your mind and get your body a little bit fresh, think about the rehab and the stretching and the other things you can do in the offseason on your own is going to probably pay off because the season is going to feel shorter and your body is going to be healthier at the end of the year and I think the mind will be a little fresher."

There have been concerns that the lockout-induced "everybody for themselves" approach to keeping in shape out could mean some low-quality football, at least early in the season when teams are essentially still in preseason mode. But Thomas doesn't consider that a big problem. "You may see, at the beginning the football not being as good, but at the end I think you may see guys that are more fresh and more ready to go after it.”

When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was pushing the 18-game schedule earlier this year, part of his pitch included reducing the offseason workload to keep players fresher during the regular season. Pretty much everyone agrees that extending the schedule by two games is a horrendous idea, but there could be a groundswell of support from players at the thought of limiting OTAs and minicamps (but still no more than 16 games). The owners don't make money during the offseason, and we've gotten to point because spring and summer workouts turned into an arms race. "If our division rival is doing it then so are we!" the thinking went.

So, Roger, if you're looking to smooth things over with the players, there's your olive branch.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed.