NFL back in business after player leaders recommend ratification of CBA

NFL Lockout: The 32 NFL owners approve a collective
bargaining agreement to lift the four-month lockout,
pending players’ approval of the CBA.

The NFL began reopening for business Monday after player leaders recommended approval of their new 10-year collective bargaining agreement with the league.

The ratification recommendation, made during a meeting in Washington, came after representatives of the two sides ironed out the final details of the labor deal. In addition to the executive committee recommendation, the deal was unanimously approved by the player representatives from the 32 teams, according to the NFL Players Association. The 4 ¹ / ₂-month lockout of the players will end officially if the labor agreement is approved by a majority of the close to 2,000 players, which is virtually certain.

NFLPA President Kevin Mawae arrived Monday morning at NFLPA headquarters in Washington. Mawae and the executive committee were to be presented with a finalized agreement which could lead to the end of the NFL's lockout.

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith confirmed the vote in a brief set of remarks to reporters outside the organization’s downtown Washington offices. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and several owners arrived minutes later and headed upstairs for the signing of the agreement, and Smith and Goodell were to address reporters later.

The sport will resume operations in stages, with some signings of players to begin by Tuesday and some teams opening training camps Wednesday.

Rookies can begin signing with their teams Tuesday. Veteran free agents can negotiate with teams Tuesday but cannot sign contracts until Friday.

Ten NFL will will open their training camps Wednesday, including the Washington Redskins. Another 10 will open camps Thursday, then 10 more Friday and the remaining two Sunday. The preseason will begin Aug. 11. The regular season will begin Sept. 8.

The owners voted, 31-0 with one abstention by the Oakland Raiders, Thursday in Atlanta to approve the collective bargaining agreement.

Players have been locked out since March 12. They dissolved their union in March, the day before the lockout began, and filed an antitrust lawsuit against the owners. They would re-form their union in conjunction with full ratification of the labor deal. 

The new 10-year deal has no opt-out provision.

The deal settles the players’ antitrust lawsuit against the owners and other litigation, including a case by the players involving the league’s television contracts and a claim by players accusing teams of improper collusion.

The league and players had been in agreement on the major economic issues of their dispute since July 15. But they had to work out a series of finishing details since then, including differing views of the process by which the players would re-form their union.

The deal includes a salary cap system by which players will receive an average of at least 47 percent of the sport’s revenues, now about $9.3 billion annually and expected to rise sharply in future seasons, over the 10-year duration of the agreement. The salary cap is to be set at $120.4 million per team for the upcoming season, not counting $22 million per club in player benefits. There is a salary cap exception by which a team may borrow up to $3 million in cap space from a future season to sign players this season. There are new payroll minimums requiring the teams to collectively spend 99 percent of the salary cap in cash over the next two seasons, and 95 percent in subsequent seasons.

The requirement for a player with an expired contract to be eligible for unrestricted free agency is restored to four seasons of NFL experience, down from the six seasons required last year in a season without a salary cap. Teams can continue to use franchise-player tags and transition-player designations to restrict some players’ free agent mobility. A new rookie pay system curbs the amount of guaranteed money in rookies’ contracts and stipulates contract lengths. Rookies selected in the NFL draft are to sign four-year contracts, with fifth-season options for first-round draft choices. Undrafted rookies are to sign three-year deals.

The new collective bargaining agreement keeps the regular season at 16 games per team. The players had opposed the league’s previous proposal to increase the season to 18 games per club. The deal stipulates the players must agree to any future switch to a longer season. The agreement includes cutbacks in offseason workouts and reductions in hitting in practices during training camp and the season.

The deal ends federal court oversight of the sport’s labor situation and includes a $620 million “legacy fund” for retired players over the 10-year duration of the agreement. Some provisions cannot be negotiated until players re-form their union. That includes drug-testing issues. So while people within the sport have said they expect players to be blood-tested for human growth hormone, that provision is not yet included in the agreement.