It was a very drawn out process between the NFL Players, and Owners but the two sides finally came to an agreement on Monday to end the 134 day lock-out. A process that seemed to be up and down throughout finally ended with both sides giving up a little, and getting a little to reach an agreement. The new collective bargaining will last 10 years in duration with no opt out clause for either side. The final points that caused a frenzy by the NFLPA on Friday after the Owners agreed on their own proposal deteriorated after it came to light that the players didn't even have the chance to review the drafted document. The weekend was somewhat of a cooling off period for the NFLPA to evaluate their documents and also come up with their own revisions of key points that they felt needed to be addressed.
The two sides were finally able to iron out the minor points that enabled both sides to put pen to paper and officially finalize the agreement. Teams will be officially able to start speaking with players on Tuesday and they can begin to sign players as early as Friday. Training camps will start to open this Wednesday, and teams can begin waiver players as early as Thursday. The players still have to vote to recertify as a Union, and after that process they'll have to have a final vote on the new CBA.
The major framework of the new agreement were finalized about a week ago but with the salary cap, and minimum spending agreed that teams were required to spend. The minor hiccup that caused the last minute rift may never fully be revealed but it was major enough to cast doubt into the eyes of the players. But whatever those hiccups where they were quickly alleviated in time to make an announcement early Monday morning. Roger Goodell, and DeMaurice Smith were all smiles on Monday with the news that football is back.
One of the key milestones that must be stated with the new CBA is the 10 year duration of the new pact between both sides. Their will be a decade of labor peace in the most prosperous sport in the U.S. for the next ten years and now the activities will move from the negotiating table to the football field which is what the fans truly enjoy the most.
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