The NFLPA unanimously voted to approve a new Collective Bargaining agreement on Monday afternoon and in the words of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, "Football is back"
With the deal's approval team can begin negotiating with their own free agents and draft picks this afternoon while trades and unrestricted free agency moves must wait until Tuesday afternoon, which is actually a day earlier than originally believed when the NFL owners first approved their deal last Thursday. Any trades or free agency transactions will not be made official until August 2nd when the league year officially begins but all term can be agreed upon.
That means get ready for the free agency frenzy we have all been anxiously waiting for since March.
All NFL training camps will open on a staggered basis as each team must report 15 days before their first preseason game so that all teams will have exactly the same amount of practice time. Teams will begin reporting on Wednesday and will continue through Sunday.
The only real casualties of the lockout then are the Hall of Fame game on August 6th, which was cancelled but traditionally serves as the opening preseason game of the year, as well as the fact that there will be no Hard Knocks on HBO this summer. And of course us fans who have been forced to wait out more than 130 days of locked-out football.
So really what was the point? In the end the owners got a little more money and the players got less practice time per season which would conceivably prolong their careers allowing players as a whole to earn more money.
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