NFL lockout: What the settlement means in immediate future
Important points regarding the end of the NFL lockout (Note: The lockout is not officially over until the entire group of 1,900 players vote to re-form as a union and accept the deal, but those largely are considered formalities):
-- In striking a deal to end the NFL lockout, the players and owners ended the longest work stoppage in league history and the first since the 1987 players strike.
-- Football resumes in earnest Tuesday when clubs can sign rookies and undrafted free agents.
-- Thirty teams will open training camps Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at a rate of 10 per day. Houston and the New York Jets will not begin camp until Sunday.
-- As part of the accord, the sides settled all unresolved litigation and neither has the ability to opt out of the deal that runs through the 2020 season.
--The deal sorts through how the nation’s most successful sports league will distribute its $9.3 billion in annual revenues; limits how much hitting players can do during the off-season, training camps and game weeks; distributes more money to veteran players and increases benefits to retired ones; and could help grease the skids for the league’s eventual return to the Los Angeles market.
-- From a fan’s perspective, the game won’t change much this season. Other than the cancellation of the Aug. 7 Hall of Fame game, and a condensed free-agency period, training camps will go on as planned. There will be limitations on how many times players can practice in pads and helmets –- a byproduct of a renewed focus on player safety -– and top rookies will no longer be the richest people on the roster.
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-- Sam Farmer
Photo: Teammate Clay Matthews hugs MVP Aaron Rodgers, right, as they celebrate Green Bay's Super Bowl victory on Feb. 6. Credit: Larry W. Smith / EPA.
