"Football's back, and that's the great news for everybody." -NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (on Monday)
It really is. Nearly four and a half months after the league's old labor contract expired on March 11, and we were plunged into a world where America's most lucrative sport was officially not happening until the NFL owners and the NFLPA (Player's Association) got together to agree on issues centered primarily around dividing the leagues billions of dollars in annual revenue.
The longest work stoppage in league history came to an end when the owners proposed a tentative deal on Monday and the players agreed to it, or at least agreed to make a collective bargaining agreement official out of the structure of the proposition.
DeMaurice Smith, head of the NFLPA, said the sides still had to sit down and agree on, among other things, "health, safety, benefits, and other collective bargaining issues", but he stated that he had "a great deal of confidence that both sides (were) going to engage."
According to an ESPN.com article put together with information from the Associated Press and ESPN.com writers John Clayton and Chris Mortensen, the main points of the new, approved deal are:
- the nearly $9 billion in annual revenue will be divided 53/47 in favor of the owners
- $120 million salary and bonus cap for every team for 2011, and potentially for '12 and '13
- $22 million in benefits
- salary system (and potential cap) for spending on first-round draft picks
- unrestricted free agency after four seasons (for most players)
Still to be worked out are issues including a new substance-abuse policy, punishments for on-or-off-field antics, and benefits and health care.
The article did not mention anything about the length of the regular season schedule, which at one point was strongly rumored to be expanding to 18-regular-season games.
"I wanna thank all the players for their leadership, and for securing the long-term future of the game," Goodell said in a press conference Monday. "Having a 10-year agreement is an extraordinarily great thing for our players, and especially for our fans. Everybody worked hard, everybody had a passion, and everybody believed in this game of football, and what we could do to make this game better, and I think this agreement is going to make our game better."
"I believe it's important that we talk about the future of football as a partnership," Smith said.
This, also from ESPN.com, is a timeline of what will happen in the next week, now that the two sides have agreed:
Monday: Teams can go to 90-man rosters and will receive the official free-agent list
Tuesday: Trades can commence. The signing of rookies and undrafted free agents can begin at 10 a.m. Teams can reach agreements will all free agents. Signed players are allowed back into team facilities.
Wednesday: Players can begin reporting to training camp, 15 days before their first preseason games.
Thursday: Teams can begin to cut players at 4 p.m.
Friday: Teams can file free agent signings beginning at 6 p.m.
"I want to get back to work," Four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning said.
Said DeMaurice Smith: "This is a great day for everybody."
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