FOOTBALL COULD BE HERE THIS YEAR-NFL

[reinhard1]

owners are scheduled to have a press conference any moment. they have agreed on a new contract. players are also scheduled to hold a press deal themselves. GO VIKINGS!!!!!

[LMITOUT]

We'll be lucky if there is a season this year from what it sounds like unless some things get agreed to in a hurry.

[toughguy]

Is it just me or does the NFL Lockout remind you of how the state shutdown ended?

[B. Amish]

owners squeezing the players into a corner. trying to get the fans to turn on them. this could turn out bad.

[CJH]

owners squeezing the players into a corner. trying to get the fans to turn on them. this could turn out bad.

LOL, Bullroar. The Players know exactly what is in the contract they negotiated, they are just trying to prolong and squeeze the owners for more concessions. Remember the players just brought another lawsuit against the owners this week. Also, they are saying it takes 2 weeks to reform their union, when it only takes 1 day.

Don't get caught up in the media Bull, they are both playing the Propaganda game. I just want football, don't really care how the deal shakes out one way or another. If there isn't football, I'll just do more pheasant hunting this fall!

[reinhard1]

today will probably be the day we find out if the pig skin will be tossed around. if everything goes well the first pre-season game will start aug. 11 i believe. free agent stuff this weekend along with training camp. good luck.

[CJH]

Yep, the PA is supposed to vote on and approve the contract today. However until its done, I am not holding my breath that some other "issue" will pop up.

[Born2Fish]

Quote:

It appears the NFL lockout is at an end, as the NFL owners and player association have a deal finalized, pending only the confirmation from the NFL. In the meantime, Adam Schefler of ESPN.com has produced a likely schedule for the coming post-lockout era:

According to the projected timeline, the new league year would officially start on Aug. 2 at 4 p.m. ET.

Before that:

Teams can sign their own free agents and begin talking with other unrestricted free agents Monday afternoon.

Teams can begin signing unrestricted free agents Tuesday at noon ET but those contracts would not take effect until Aug. 2.

Teams can begin talking trades Monday afternoon. Any trades would become official on Saturday, July 30.

This could very likely lead to a lot of roster news today and tomorrow as teams rush in to settle their rosters and fill their practice squads with undrafted free agents.

It appears the 2011 NFL season is getting real now and the grass is, essentially, getting mowed on the training camp facilities. Pretty much all that remains now is the re-certifying of the NFL Player's Association (NFLPA):

The [lockout-ending] agreement is a bit of a leap of faith by the owners. The lockout will be lifted before the NFLPA is recertified. To do so requires 50 percent, plus 1 vote by the players to do so. The expectation is that it will happen Tues, with Weds. at the latest.

It seems highly unlikely at this point that the players would allow any other snags to prevent the closure of this longest-ever football lockout.

[FISHINGURU]

I can't believe that anyone really thought there wouldn't be football this season, way to much money involved.