The NFL Lockout is Over

I know people are going to heap accolades on DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell now that a deal is done. The quarterbacks tend to get too much credit when a deal goes through, and too much blame when it does not. The MVP for me, though, was a referee, or in this case, a judge. Judge Doty’s ruling on the television lockout money issue back in March was the key to both sides ultimately having incentive to resolve this before the owners began losing money in the preseason. A lot of work happened after that point, but if the owners had the television money to offset losses, the negotiating relationship would have been even more icy and the owners would have taken a more hard line stance.

The end result saw the owners gain back some money, while the players got concessions in the area of player rights and safety, with more regulated practice schedules in season and restrictions for the offseason.

Where does this leave us now? With an accelerated offseason on steroids natural supplements to enhance body mass. The details are not set, and there are conflicting reports. Albert Breer says clubs can start signing draft picks and their own free agents on Tuesday, along with talking with unrestricted free agents. Unrestricted free agents and trades would then open at 6 pm on Friday. According to Adam Schefter, a team can sign its own free agents and talk to others as early as this afternoon, and sign unrestricted free agents tomorrow, though contracts would not be effective until August 2. It is also expected that teams will report 14 days prior to their first scheduled preseason game.

The net effect of this is organized chaos. We can’t pretend that tampering never occurs (where a team talks with a potential free agent before the free agency period begins), and we’ve heard various rumors this offseason that are obviously coming from somewhere–Matt Hasselbeck to Tennessee is one. However, it appears that teams will be able to talk with other teams free agents while teams also have some small window to sign their own. This means teams will be officially able to communicate and influence free agent signings. Maybe a player was willing to re-sign with his current team, but while doing that, starts getting feelers, without risk of tampering charges, that make him realize the market is much better for his services than he thought.

It’s going to be fun, crazy, and exhausting. Get ready for some football.

[photo via Getty]