DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement the Final Chapter

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Teams would be able to sign their own free agents this afternoon. Teams also would be permitted to begin negotiating trades, which would become official on Saturday.

Also, teams would be permitted to start signing free agents at 12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Those contracts would not become official until August 2.

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Get ready bro...It starts TODAY!!!!!!!!!!...

I can see players mummifying themselves in tape, but "healthy" until they get to a game against San Diego and Oakland, and then everyone falling apart in in pieces.

I want some of that magic spray. Heck, it cures just about anything. Can we use that on the National Debt?

The timeline given to Executive Committee and player representatives
Posted by Mike Florio on July 25, 2011, 1:15 PM EDT
Picture taken on October 29, 2010 in Par Getty Images

Everyone has a timeline, so we decided we should get one, too.

We got ours from a pretty good source. It’s the actual hard copy being considered by the NFLPA* Executive Committee and board of player representatives.

Titled “Article 11, Transition Rules for the 2011 League Year,” here’s what the document provides.

Today, the NFL will publish a Free Agency List.

On Tuesday, team facilities will open for voluntary training, conditioning, and classroom instruction.

On Tuesday, trades can begin.

At 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, teams may sign drafted rookies, undrafted rookies, and negotiate with (but not sign) their own unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, exclusive-rights players, and franchise players.

Also, beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, teams may negotiate with, but not sign or give offer sheets to, other team’s unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, and franchise players.

At 4:01 p.m. ET on Thursday, teams may waive or terminate player contracts.

At 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, teams may renegotiate existing player contracts, sign their own unrestricted free agents, sign their own restricted free agents, and sign their franchise players.

Also at 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, teams may sign unrestricted free agents from other teams, restricted free agents from other teams, and franchise players from other teams.

No payment of any kind can be made to any player until the CBA has been ratified by the players.

The 2011 league year will begin no later than August 4. When the 2011 league year begins, teams must be under the salary cap. (Specifically, their highest 51 cap numbers must fit under the cap.)

Thus, look for some teams to possibly go over the projected cap this week, and then to find a way to get under the cap before the official start of the league year.
PFT

Our hell is over gentlemen.

The CBA in a nutshell
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 25, 2011, 2:03 PM EDT
Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith, AP

We have an agreement. Finally. So what’s in it?

We know a lot about the new collective bargaining agreement and how it will shape the NFL for the next decade. We’ll learn even more in the coming hours as we get a chance to read the fine print.

In the meantime, PFT wanted to give folks just joining the party a broad outline of the agreement.

(And by broad outline, we mean that we’ll mostly link to all the other posts we’ve been cranking out. What, you thought we were going re-write all that junk?)

Length of agreement: We’ve got ten years of labor peace on the way. There is no opt out clause in the deal.

Revenue split: This is what it was all about. The players were on defense the whole time, knowing that owners would get a larger share of the overall pie.

The two sides agreed on a new “all revenue” model. It’s a little complicated, but overall the players must average at least 47 percent of all revenue for the 10-year term of the agreement.

The money was counted differently in the past, but the split was essentially closer to 50-50 before.

Drafted Rookies: A new rookie wage scale will dramatically curb spending on rookies. High first-round draft picks are taking a huge hit. No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton, for instance, is expected to see less than half the guaranteed money of 2010 No. 1 pick Sam Bradford. Those top-shelf contracts will be four years, with a pricey fifth year option.

Measures to prevent rookie holdouts were also put into the deal, in part by making the rookie contracts simpler. Players taken rounds two-through-seven aren’t overly impacted.

Undrafted rookies: They will be among the first players to sign with teams. A new signing bonus cap for undrafted players is expected to be put in place.

18-game season: The possibility of an 18-game season died a lot sooner than anyone expected. The players wanted no part of it and the issue was put off until 2013. Owners can try to negotiate more games in 2013, but the players would have to agree to it. A stare down could ensue over the fate of the preseason.

Revenue sharing: The owners separately agreed to a new ten-year plan for revenue sharing. This negotiation didn’t directly involve the players, yet it remains as vital to the sport as anything accomplished over the last few weeks. The plan will tax the highest-earning teams.

Salary cap: The salary cap is set for $120.375 million in 2011. That’s actually about $6 million less than the salary cap was back in 2009, the last year the cap was in place. It’s important to note the cap will rise with revenues. (Future television deals.)

2011 salary cap flexibility: Even though the salary cap was ostensibly scaled back, teams were given two avenues to make it easier to retain high priced veterans this year. Teams can “borrow” $3 million against future salary caps to pay for veterans. They can also use another $3.5 million in what would otherwise be performance-based pay to use for veterans.

So the cap really isn’t $120.375 million. It’s basically $126.88 if teams want it to be. An extra $6.5 million won’t save guys that truly deserve to get cut, but it will make life easier for teams near the cap limit.

Salary floors: Players accepted a relatively low salary cap in exchange for the raising the minimum teams have to spend. This can’t be underestimated. 99% of the salary cap must be spent in cash in aggregate between 2011-2012. The league-wide number falls to 95% after that. Teams must spend at least 89% of the cap from 2013-2016 and 2017-2020.

This helps ensure teams that were way under the cap in recent years like the Bengals and Bucs spend more.

Player safety: The amount of padded practices in the regular season is now heavily regulated by the league. Two padded practices per day in training camp (two-a-days) has also been banned. (This doesn’t sit well with all players.) Teams can do a padded practice and a non-padded practice in the same day in training camp.

Teams will also reportedly have more days off during their bye week.

Offseason work: Offseason Organized Team Activities (OTAs) have been reduced from 14 days to 10. The offseason program was reduced five weeks overall.

Retired players: The new deal reportedly adds $1 billion in new funds for retired players. $620 will be used for a new “Legacy Fund,” which will be devoted to increasing pensions for pre-1993 retirees.

Tampering: There will be no need for teams to illegally contact agents about deals for free agents in the coming week. Almost as soon as teams are back Tuesday, they can begin speaking to all unrestricted free agents.

And just in case we missed anything: Seven more odds and ends you may have missed.
PFT

Thank God this is finally over.

NFL beat Congress. Lost a few bucks. But sign 'em all and let's fire it up! Go Browns!!!!!

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On Tuesday, trades can begin.

At 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, teams may sign drafted rookies, undrafted rookies, and negotiate with (but not sign) their own unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, exclusive-rights players, and franchise players.

Also, beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, teams may negotiate with, but not sign or give offer sheets to, other team’s unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, and franchise players.

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OooRah! Somebody pinch me

Here's a link to the NFLPA's summary of the CBA:

link

j/c

There ain't a one of ya any more excited than me!

It's been far too long with no news but bad news. It's been so long this summer with no football news about players, FA's, mini camps, rookies and everything that the time period between the first news and the first game has been shortened by months.

This is going to be the craziest and shortest off season in NFL history. Two weeks of off season before the first preseason game. Nearly the whole off season is being packed into one week. I sure hope the Browns Trust are prepared for it.

Buckle up!

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There ain't a one of ya any more excited than me!

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Oh yeah,, wanna bet

It's a good feeling to know that the end of this debacle is here and that soon, very soon, we'll get almost hourly reports of players signed by various teams.. then, it's to camp...

I'm not sure I've ever been more excited for the start of camp... ever

I agree and that's why I stated sometime ago how the process will almost have a draft feel to it.

I'm a little hesitant to be excited, this uncharted territory could once again hurt slightly less desirable city's. Who do you think are goind to have the easiest time signing top free agents. With this short window I feel once again the rich will get richer and poor will tread water.

A guy may tell us he needs a day to think about it, but jump on an offer from the likes of the Patriots. The negotiating window is a sliver's butt crack. This is going to be no easy task for anyone. Each day is worth about a week of a normal offseason.

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Each day is worth about a week of a normal offseason.

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True, but Holmgren is quoted as saying that most of the time a FA will sign for the original offer a month down the road after much debate he ends up agreeing to the offer. Money still talks, but there will always be the big market teams vs the smaller market teams in any FA period in any given year, so I do not anticipate this FA period being any different in that regard.

Yeah I do agree with that, I just think it will be easier for them to jump at the flashy offers over a rust belt offer more so this time.

I also was thinking how in the word can these so called "super agents" with 20 plus clients, are goin to handle the call volumn necessary to truly handle each and every one of your clients in the way they were promised. I would want Jerry McGuire this year

The best news out of all of this is that we won't have to look at De Smith's bottom lip anymore.

lol...or hear "um....ummmm..ummm.