Earlier today the NFLPA approved the proposed collective bargaining agreement between the owners and the players by a 32-0 vote. The new CBA is for 10 years with no opt out for either side. The agreement officially ends the 132-day lock out of the players by NFL ownership.
A couple of the newer additions to the CBA include a salary scale for rookie players, so no longer will you see those $65 million contracts handed out to players who haven’t played a down. The scale is more realistic for rookie players. Also the veteran players will get more of that money that would have been used on signing top draft picks.
In addition there will be no 18-game season and better health and safety provisions. Also, players who retired pre-1993 will be gaining additional benefits, which was a key point for NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith.
While ownership can claim they got a slightly larger portion of the projected $9 Billion in league revenue. But teams will have to spend nearly the entire salary cap in an effort to keep all the teams competitive.
With the agreement now an entire off-season of NFL business is going to be condensed into the next two weeks. Starting today the NFL is distributing a list of eligible free agents. Starting tomorrow, team rosters can increase to the 90-man limit, teams can open their facilities to players, trades can be made and teams can sign drafted and undrafted players, they may also negotiate with free agents but can not sign them.
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On Wednesday 10 teams, including the Patriots will open training camp. 10 more teams will open camp on Thursday an additional 10 on Friday and the last two teams will open on Sunday. Camp dates are set up so each team has 15 days of prep time before their first preseason game.
On Thursday the teams can start cutting players in order to get under the $120 million salary cap.
On Friday, teams can sign free agents and renegotiate restructured contracts of their current players to try to gain cap space. And on August 4th the new league year will start and the NFLPA Union must be reconstituted.
The Patriots have announced that Wednesday’s conditioning run will be closed to fans and media but that Thursday’s session will be open to the public. A time for practice is yet to be announced. As with all public practice sessions fans should check Patriots.com for latest information regarding weather and cancellations.
The Patriots ownership also sent out a letter to their season ticket holders thanking the fans for their support. Here is a copy of the letter via the Boston Herald’s Rap Sheet blog.
The best moment of the day came when Indianapolis Colts center and player rep Jeff Saturday spoke of Myra Kraft, the late wife of the Patriots owner, saying “A special thanks to Myra Kraft, who even in her weakest moment allowed Mr. Kraft to come and fight this out. Without him, this deal does not get done…He’s a man who helped us save football.”
With that Saturday then hugged Robert Kraft and football was officially back.
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Photo credit: Reuters Pictures
