[ESPN.com] ESPN.com is reporting that the NFL Players Association and the league’s owners have reached agreement on the remaining points needed in their 10-year labor deal.
Despite the fact the new agreement will require a majority vote from the players, that part of the deal between the two sides is considered a formality, according to sources.
The NFLPA is making plans for a major press conference Monday. But first the player reps’ executive committee is scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C., on Sunday so they can vote Monday.
Just as the NFL would not have called a vote Thursday in Atlanta without knowing it would pass in the way it did — 31-0 with one abstention — the NFLPA would also not be going forward without that assurance.
Once the players ratify the deal, training camps and free agency are likely to begin the same day, in what would be the equivalent of merging Thanksgiving and Christmas into one holiday.
By rule, training camps can’t start until the new league year does.
Major breakthroughs in Saturday discussions set up the timetable for the resolution to the 130-day lockout.
The timeline, according to an ESPN.com source:
If the NFLPA has gotten the necessary votes, teams can also start contract talks with their own players, including free agents and draft choices.
