On a dramatic day in Atlanta, a group of 32 owners voted Thursday to pass a comprehensive settlement of litigation and a new collective bargaining agreement that would allow the NFL’s regular season to start on time.
Now, for the catch: Before the evening’s end, the players’ association wasn’t immediately ready to also approve the league’s proposal, choosing instead to take its time to digest it.
For training camp to begin on time (the NFL has proposed for the new league year to begin Wednesday), the players will need to make a decision on the owners’ conditions and recertify their union by Tuesday.
It could happen sooner, even as early as Friday, which would allow voluntary workouts to begin as early as Saturday. Then again, it might not happen yet at all.
“There’s a sense of urgency to this,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We want to have a full 2011 season that includes the four preseason games, and we’re up against the wall.”
The players, however, weren’t in the mood to be rushed through the process Thursday. As the players mulled their options, owners lingered in the lobby of the Marriott Gateway near the Atlanta Airport, awaiting word just as the players had been doing all day at their headquarters in Washington. A long afternoon melted into a longer evening, as these tense negotiations culminated with one of the more bizarre, dramatic days in NFL history.
At approximately 7:15 p.m., the owners broke from meetings that began at 10 a.m. They had just voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement. A round of applause broke out. Owners strolled out of the room, satisfied that a deal was done but tempered by their concessions.
“These things by their very nature aren’t supposed to make you very happy when you walk out the door,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said as he departed. “I don’t mean to sound negative, but it isn’t exactly like Christmas is here. It’s give and take.”
The owners said they believed they did just that — they gave some, and they took some. But they also voted on the agreement before the players had a chance to completely approve the 400-page document.
Within the hour that followed the owners’ ratification of the new deal, Goodell and NFL vice president Jeff Pash spoke as if this was a done deal.
Pash, for instance, said he “expects and believes” the players would approve a deal negotiated by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, who conducted a phone call with Goodell at one point Thursday before the owners ratified the deal.
After the ratification, the league even distributed a proposed schedule, contingent on the players’ decision to recertify and agree to the new collective bargaining agreement. It remains possible, if the players decide to accept the deal in the immediate future, these dates still could stand. In such a case, players could report to training camp for voluntary workouts on Saturday, the same day general managers could begin negotiating with the agents of undrafted free agents.
Four days later — at 2 p.m. Wednesday — free agency would begin. So would training camp. Players could officially report for physicals, meetings and conditioning. Teams could sign new players. Football would proceed as usual.
Now, all of this remains in jeopardy. But as long as the players and owners can agree to the new collective bargaining agreement by Tuesday, the NFL’s proposed schedule will remain mostly in tact.
The ball is now in the hands of the players, who are contemplating when and how they would like to recertify as a union. The players can do this through one vote each (not two separate votes), which means the process could still move swiftly. Or, as has been the case throughout this process, it could take some time.
"Hopefully we can all work quickly," Goodell said Thursday night. “It is time to get back to football. That’s what everybody here wants to do."
But do the players feel the same? Time, again, will tell.