After meeting for more than eight hours in a hotel near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, NFL owners passed a resolution to end the four-month-old lockout Thursday.
“It’s time to get back to football,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.
The league owners agreed to a comprehensive settlement of litigation and a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement.
The owners would like to open business Saturday, but must wait to see if the NFL Players Association re-certifies as a union and ratifies the agreement. The NFLPA was set to have a conference call late Thursday evening.
“We received the NFL’s proposed procedure for finalizing a settlement,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith wrote in an email to team player representatives. “Among other things, it demands that the players re-form as a union and provide evidence by Tuesday.”
Falcons owner Arthur Blank predicted before the meeting that the resolution, a document of more than 400 pages, would pass. Approval hinged on 24 of the 32 owners voting for the resolution. In the end, 31 voted in favor of the agreement, with the Oakland Raiders abstaining.
Here are some of the issues addressed by the comprehensive settlement:
-- The league expects the antitrust case the players filed after they were locked out March 11 to be dismissed.
-- The league expects the television-revenue case that the players viewed as lockout insurance by the owners to be dismissed.
-- The league believes they have “an accommodation” with the players on the $320 million in benefits that the players would have received during the lockout.
-- Retired players will receive enhanced benefits.
-- The Pro Football Hall of Fame game between the St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears, previously scheduled to open the exhibition season Aug. 7, was canceled.
The league must address its business calendar, new free-agency rules and a new rookie salary system.
The NFL was prepared to hold a symposium for general managers to lay out the ground rules for re-opening business, but that meeting was pushed back until Friday.
After all of the issues were resolved, the NFLPA had to re-establish itself, which requires approval by a majority of the 1,900 players.
Some of the owners were not pleased with the tactics of the NFLPA.
“You can only control what you can control,” Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay said. “We’re optimistic and trying to do our part. There’s a lot of moving parts, but everything’s headed in the right direction.”
In March, when talks stalled, the NFLPA de-certified as a union and said it became a trade association. The move was necessary to allow players such as Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning to file the antitrust action against the league. The union must recertify because only a union can agree to collective bargaining agreement.
The Falcons have 54 players under contract. They have 11 free agents and five drafted players. The team will be busy to reach the total of 90 players that they will be allowed to carry during the exhibition season.
The league hopes that teams can start to sign undrafted rookie free agents Sunday and that free agency for veteran players can start Wednesday.
“We have a group of football folks that are chomping at the bit,” Blank said. “They are not sleeping at night. They are ready to go. ... As soon as that whistle blows, we’re ready to go.”
Blank said the talks recently accelerated.
“I don’t know if it was a matter of losing money,” Blank said. “I’m sure it was a factor indirectly. Directly, I think there’s a commitment from the league and the players as well to not lose games.”
Blank believes the resolution will lead to long-time labor peace.
“The nature of a 10-year deal really speaks to that,” Blank said. “It sends the right kind of message to our fans, our sponsors and folks that are committed to this wonderful game. They can focus on the game and not the labor situation for a very long time.”
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