The players and owners have reportedly agreed to terms on a new 10 year collective bargaining agreement, effectively ending the NFL lockout and ensuring labor peace for the next decade. The full players union still has to vote to ratify the deal, but all the final details have been worked out and the executive committee will reportedly recommend the deal. So at this point it would seem that the vote is just a formality and after 132 days, the NFL lockout is just about over.
At this point things will begin to move very fast. ESPN is reporting that clubs will be allowed to sign their own free agents and rookies today. Full free agency should begin tomorrow.
Teams will begin to report to training camp no later than two weeks prior to their first preseason game. So teams will be reporting on a staggered basis, with the Eagles being among the first 10 to show up on Wednesday. According to ESPN, here’s the tentative timeline for how the league will proceed once the agreement is officially signed.
• Monday: The NFL will announce that teams can go to 90-man rosters and the official free-agent list will be distributed to teams.
• Tuesday: Teams can reach agreements with rookies and undrafted free agents beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Teams can reach agreements with all free agents and signed players are allowed to enter team facilities.
• Wednesday: Players can begin reporting to training camps 15 days before their first preseason games. According to the proposed timeline, 10 teams would report on Wednesday, 10 more on Thursday and 10 additional teams on Friday. The New York Jets and Houston Texans would be the last two teams to report, on Sunday.
• Thursday: Teams can begin to cut players at 4 p.m. ET.
• Friday: Teams can begin filing transactions to the league office at 6 p.m. ET.
• Aug. 4: Deadline for recertification and ratification of the collective bargaining agreement by the players.