Posted by Eye on Football Staff

The lockout, kids. The 32 NFLPA reps voted unanimously to approve the CBA on Monday afternoon. That gives us a decade (!) of labor peace in the NFL. Life is good.



Now the chaos begins. Fortunately, we're here to provide you with live updates throughout the day/night/week (?!?!). So bookmark our NFL Lockout: Live Updates page and come back early and often.



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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

It was a late night and an early morning for the negotiators for the NFL and the NFLPA, but according to CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman and NFL.com’s Albert Breer, it was a successful bargaining session. And, hopefully, the final negotiation meeting for the next 10 years or so.

Because it sounds as if the two sides have agreed to the basic terms of a new CBA, even though Breer writes that there are still small points to review before it’s truly done.

In his Daily Shoutout, Freeman writes that the NFLPA executive committee is expected to meet at 9 a.m. this morning (though that time might get pushed back). After the committee votes to recommend the CBA, the plaintiffs of the Brady v NFL case will sign off on the deal, and then the player reps will vote to pass it.

As long as 50 percent plus one of the rank-and-file players vote to ratify, the deal will be completed.

At this point, we’re still a little unclear whether team facilities would open Tuesday or Wednesday, and we're still not sure when free agency would begin. But we should begin to know all the answers at some point today.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

The labor deal -- and the path to NFL football in 2011 -- is finally, truly done. Well, almost.

That’s the report from CBSSports.com’s own Mike Freeman, who writes that the owners and players have agreed to a new CBA.

"It's done," one player source told Freeman. "We have an agreement. Now we just have to vote."

[More from Mike Freeman: Lockout updates]

Now, the majority of the players (50 percent, plus one) have to agree to the deal in order to end the lockout for good. Players will fly into Washington on Sunday in order to go over last-minute details. They’re then expected to vote Monday, and a news conference should occur shortly thereafter.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, once the deal is ratified, free agency and training camp likely will begin on the same day.

Saturday was a huge day in moving along negotiations, and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly worked hard together to make sure there wasn’t any additional trouble between the two sides.

On Monday, the NFLPA executive committee will meet in Washington, and it’ll pass along its recommendations to the players -- to ratify the new CBA AND to reform the NFLPA as a union -- who will have to sign off on both deals in order to begin the new league year.

The plaintiffs in the Brady v NFL case (including Chargers WR Vincent Jackson, who reportedly dropped his demand to be paid $10 million or be exempt from the franchise tag) would then have to consent to the deal, and the lawsuit -- and any other judicial matters between the two sides -- would be kaput.

And most importantly, we’d have football again.

UPDATED (11:46 a.m. ET): Freeman is reporting that the new league year can't start until the fifth day after the CBA is ratified and signed, and training camps couldn't start until two days after that. So, we still have a little time before the players officially get back to work.

UPDATED (12:29 p.m. ET): If you wanted a small dash of cold water on your red-hot "LOCKOUT IS ALMOST OVER" news, the Associated Press provides it for you. In its small story about the NFLPA executive committee meeting Monday, the AP cites sources that it's not certain whether a vote will be held to recommend the deal. So, keep that in mind before you start partying too hard tonight.

UPDATED (1:15 p.m. ET): While CBSSports.com's Clark Judge reports that the NFLPA is still trying to tweak the opt-out clause in the new CBA (or the fact there is no opt-out clause), he also writes that it's not a deal-breaker. Probably because it'll be a hard sell to the owners -- who, you'll recall, opted out of the last CBA. The players would like to get an opt-out clause after the eighth year of the 10-year CBA.

UPDATED (1:19 p.m. ET): Freeman writes that team facilities will be open to players from when the new CBA is signed until training camp begins. Which is not unexpected, but probably necessary.

UPDATED (9:22 p.m. ET): Jason LaCanfora of NFL.com writes that Saints QB Drew Brees has sent an e-mail to teammates saying it's "expected" that the new CBA deal will be signed Monday. But Brees also, not surprisingly, hedged his bets, writing that the final ratification could come Tuesday or Wednesday as well.

Brees also writes that free agency could start as early as Friday. Saints training camp, says Brees, would open July 31 with a 2 p.m. meeting.

UPDATED (9:37 a.m. ET, Monday): NFL owners and players agreed early Monday to the terms of a deal to end the lockout, and players were expected to begin the voting process later in the day, two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The NFLPA executive committee is expected to meet Monday and vote on the final agreement around 11:00 a.m. ET.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

In recent years, HBO's Hard Knocks has served as something of a bridge between the offseason and the regular season. A guilty pleasure that got us through the tediousness of training camps (although we'd now gladly endure such tedium if it mean actual football … but don't worry, it's coming!) and offered us a glimpse behind the curtain.

There was no other show like it on television and for various reasons, there won't be a show like it this preseason, either. Sports Illustrated's Peter King tweets:



Luckily, we won't have time to bemoan the monotony of those few weeks between the start of training camp and the final preseason game because once the lockout ends, the race to the regular season will be frenetic (we're guessing the interpretive dance would look something like this).

That means we won't get to see the Panthers or Patriots or Packers or Texans or Raiders. Or any other team for that matter.

And that's okay. At this point we'll just settle for football.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

One source told CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman on Saturday that so much progress was made in negotiations between owners and players that a deal was near. The source also thought a vote on a new collective bargaining agreement might come in the next 24-48 hours.

"So close that the executive committee might vote as soon as Sunday," Freeman writes, "though the player source felt Monday was more likely."

Either way, we'll take it. We've gone more than four months without football and at this point anything short of "SEASON CANCELED" is encouraging news.

Perhaps more evidence that the end is near: ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported via Twitter that NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell "have worked directly to assure that nothing goes off path. Exec committee called this a.m. Expect presser Monday."

Mortensen added that Smith and Goodell are "working directly on couple finishing details but [the] trust is there. … In fact, Goodell may be invited to [the Monday] presser."

Given all the false starts in recent days, we'd understand your skepticism. NFL Network's Albert Breer isn't yet willing to commit to a Monday press conference, instead opting for "standby mode."

"NFLPA currently has its executive committee and player reps on standby for Monday," he tweeted Saturday afternoon. "If things keep going well, likely exec comm comes to DC."

PFT's Greg Rosenthal also is trying to keep things in perspective. "We’ve learned to that a deal isn’t done until it’s done, so we’re tempering our optimism slightly."

Meanwhile, we can only imagine that ESPN's Adam Schefter is taking perverse pleasure in stirring the pot. Here is the entirety of his tweet from Saturday afternoon.



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Posted by Ryan Wilson

When Roger Goodell announced during a Thursday press conference that the owners had voted 31-0 on a proposed settlement to end the lockout, the jubilation -- and the sense of relief that accompanied it -- was palpable. It was also fleeting.

In the hours after Goodell's announcement, many players said they felt blindsided. Some called the owners "arrogant" and their proposal a "power play." Still, there was optimism that the lockout wouldn't drag on much longer.

"We are going to get a deal done," Jaguars linebacker Kirk Morrison said late Thursday night.

Bengals tight end Reggie Kelly, an alternate player representative, sounded equally upbeat, though he recognized that players were initially concerned.

"I think guys at first were angry [Thursday] because the first time we heard about the proposal was on TV when they voted on it," said Kelly, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy. "You need to negotiate and do it the right way.

"People have started to cool off. It's not about egos and personal feelings. It's a business. All in all it's going to work out and we're going to be ready to play."

In related Bengals-lockout news, the organization emailed season-ticket holders Thursday announcing that the lockout was over. We applaud the the team's confidence, although its credibility takes a hit when you read sentences like this: "This year — like others before it — we will focus our energies on returning to the Super Bowl again."

Shutdown Corner's Doug Farrar sums it up nicely. "The fact that the Bengals' organization (long known as one of the league's most parsimonious and least competent, though we certainly don't include Marvin Lewis in that equation) is out there with this one will just provide a bit of comic relief in what has been a very arduous and unnecessarily dramatic process."

So, yes, thanks again for the laughs, Cincinnati.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

Friday evening, Eye on Football's Will Brinson outlined what needs to happen in the coming days for both the owners and players to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement and for there to be a 2011 NFL season.

One of the ancillary issues involves Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who also happens to be one of the named plaintiffs in the Tom Brady v. NFL lawsuit. According to a report earlier this week, Jackson was seeking either $10 million or to immediately become an unrestricted free agent before he would sign off on a settlement.

ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted Saturday morning that Jackson is "now is willing to release his claim without compensation."

(Patriots lineman Logan Mankins allegedly made similar demands, which his agent refuted. Either way, Mankins said Thursday that he will sign off to settle the case without seeking compensation.)

There now appears to be one fewer obstacle between the owners, players and a 2011 season. More reason for optimism: CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman reported Friday that negotiations will continue through the weekend. "The players don't really need that much time to sort through the offer. … The issues remaining can be solved fairly easily and quickly if they wanted."

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Posted by Will Brinson

Earlier today, CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman reported that the NFLPA plans to work throughout the weekend despite a report that the players were going to take off until Monday.

A source of Freeman's notes, too, that "the players seem to be in no hurry to ratify the CBA."

Of course, the reality is that the CBA won't just be ratified by a majority vote from the players.

There's actually a couple of things that have to happen first, where a settlement of the lawsuits is reached, the union is reformed and then the remaining issues are collectively bargained.

So let's take a look at what, precisely, will need to happen for us to get on the path to kicking off the football (off)season.

For starters, there are still a number of issues that need to be resolved, including grievances between the NFLPA and NFL, $320 million in back benefits that the NFLPA believes it's due from 2010, how to handle substance-abuse and drug testing (HGH testing isn't going to be a clear-cut answer, despite what Jeff Pash says).

No, this doesn't include handling allegedly disgruntled plaintiff Vincent Jackson, who seems intent on being freed from the franchise tag and/or recouping money from the time he lost during his previous seasons as a restricted free agent.



But Jackson is involved in the first step of the process, which is wrapping up the settlement.

For that to happen, the two sides need to agree on the settlement's final deal points and language. (Ever dealt with a lawyer and/or lawsuit before? This sort of thing can get heated, minute and complicated.) To reach a settlement, the two sides will also need to figure out what to do with the lockout insurance case.

Once the NFLPA's executive board votes to send this to the named plaintiffs (they've done so in a conditional fashion already), Tom Brady and the rest of the named plaintiffs have to sign off on the settlement.

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As soon as that happens and the court approves the settlement, the players can begin reforming the union. That requires some serious paperwork, though it's likely the trade association known as the NFLPA will have such items squared away. Most important, it also requires 51 percent of the players turning in their union cards and re-forming.

Yes, it's possible this could happen electronically, but it's more than likely that we end up seeing team facilities opened so players can come in and sign the cards and re-form.

It's also possible that incorporating such a process could be a conditional part of the settlement, though it can't be demanded by either side necessarily and shouldn't be a dealbreaker.

Once the players are re-unionized, the two sides can collectively bargain the remaining issues mentioned above.

What this means, more than anything, is that we're not just a simple vote away from getting football back. Though the owners ratified a proposal that might not have been seen by the players, and though we might feel "halfway done," there's still work ahead before we get a new CBA.

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