Lockout deal reached!

[Dave Gray]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6797238/2011-nfl-lockout-owners-players-come-deal-all-points-sources-say

It's just a formality to get it done at this point.

Football is back for the next 10 years.

[Sunstroke]

Glad to see that both groups of moneygrubbing sociopaths could finally come to an agreement.

The free agency chaos should be entertaining as all hell... Hopefully Miami and SF can grab a few players who can help them on the field.

[MikeO]

so I guess this means my DIRECTV bill will be higher this month. They can start charging me for the NFL Ticket now...lol

[Pats2006]

Yea boy!! Im going to run out and pick up some FF mags 

[MikeO]

Yea boy!! Im going to run out and pick up some FF mags 

Those magazine were probably written in March and with the free agency boom about to take place you might want to stick with some online websites with "up to date" news.

[Pats2006]

Those magazine were probably written in March and with the free agency boom about to take place you might want to stick with some online websites with "up to date" news.

True.. there are going to be a lot of moves and trades fast!!

[masterfins]

Should be an interesting couple weeks in the free agent market.  Probably see some really cheap deals along with a few overpriced deals; hope the Fins aren't in the latter category.

[Sunstroke]

Yea boy!! Im going to run out and pick up some FF mags   

If you play in any leagues with crusty FFL junkies, you're better off not mentioning the magazines...

On topic... Knowing that the NFL will have labor stability for the next decade fills my sports soul with an intense feeling of peace and comfort. My love of football is really all about the football, and I took zero entertainment from the soap opera drama of greedy men that we just went through.

[fyo]

Did the players get their 7-year opt-out clause?

[SportsChick]

ESPN is reporting on SportsCenter that they did not. They're talking about a crazy timeline.

[Brian Fein]

Is it bad that I still don't care...?

[Dave Gray]

I am starting to care.  Mid-season baseball is killing me.

[bsfins]

I care if the either side got a an opt out plan,because of what was being reported (2015 ish). Would tend to line up with a Dolphins regime change,of our next front Dolphins office regime leaving...(unless they happen to win the superbowl of course)

The other reason,would happen to be when I have to chunk down a small fortune for my NFL Sunday ticket (I pay all at once,rather than payments)

[fyo]

And the player reps have no voted (unanimously) to approve the deal with the NFL. There are apparently no changes from the version the owners voted on, except that everything has been moved a few days.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6799301/nflpa-oks-deal-roger-goodell-says-football-back

[fyo]

As expected, the NFLPA has now recertified:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/30/2337914/bills-among-teams-to-vote-to-recertify.html

That means it's time to get the last pieces of the puzzle in place (mainly drug testing, player discipline, and pensions). Most of it appears to have been negotiated already, although technically the NFLPA wasn't allowed to do so.

The biggest hurdle appears to be discipline, where the NFLPA will push hard to prevent the league from punishing players for actions during the lockout. The NFLPA stance is that the players were not employed by the NFL and thus not subject to the personal conduct policy. Not an altogether unreasonable argument.