The news that fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. As of Monday, July 25, 2011, the NFL lockout is over as ESPN and their NFL expert have tweeted:
@AdamSchefter :NFLPA approves deal. Done.
As the NFLPA executive committee gathered Monday to vote, it ended up being a unanimous decision and the new 10-year deal is in place. After 132 days of the NFL lockout and with the preseason and regular season in doubt, everyone can rest securely now knowing that football is indeed back.
Here is the current timeline of events:
• 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: Trading begins. 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.
A short press conference headed by NFLPA Director DeMaurice Smith followed the vote and he stated how happy everyone was to get back to playing football. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and others are signing the final document for the new deal and everything will be in place.
Tomorrow will essentially kick off the day of the NFL season that fans worried they may never have. More on this breaking story soon.