NFL on hold; players study deal OK'd by owners

NFL on hold; players study deal OK'd by owners

Jon Elway, executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos, arrives for a meeting Friday, July 22, 2011, in Atlanta. NFL general managers and other team executives are meeting to discuss specifics of the labor agreement approved by owners and make plans for the season while awaiting the players' vote on the deal.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The NFL was stuck in a holding pattern Friday as the players studied the owner-approved proposal to end the lockout and tried to determine when - and even whether - to vote on it.

As it is, clubs already were being told not to expect players to begin arriving at facilities Saturday, the day owners said gates would open.

"Now it's just waiting," Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said at an Atlanta hotel where team executives were being briefed on new rules for next season. "Be flexible and wait and see what happens."

The two sides were expected to be in contact as they tried to iron out remaining hang-ups preventing a deal. Owners ratified the tentative terms 31-0 - the Oakland Raiders abstained - on Thursday, provided players would give their OK, too, and re-establish their union.

But players decided later Thursday not to hold a vote, saying they hadn't had a chance to see a finished product.

By Friday, it was in hand.

"Player leadership is discussing the most recent written proposal with the NFL, which includes a settlement agreement, deal terms and the right process for addressing recertification," NFL Players Association president Kevin Mawae said in a statement released by the group. "There will not be any further NFLPA statements today out of respect for the Kraft family while they mourn the loss of Myra Kraft."

NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith attended Friday's funeral in Newton, Mass., for Kraft, the wife of New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft.

Even when players decide they're OK with a final agreement, their approval process is more complicated than the owners' was. The 32 team reps will have to recommend accepting the settlement. Then the 10 named plaintiffs in the players' lawsuit against the league - including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees - must officially inform the court of their approval.

Eventually, all 1,900 players would take a majority vote to approve returning the NFLPA to union status. When talks broke down in March, allowing the old collective bargaining agreement to expire, the players dissolved the union, turning the NFLPA into a trade association. That's what allowed the players to sue the owners in federal court under antitrust law.

Only after the NFLPA is again a union can it negotiate certain parts of a new CBA. Among those items that are of most concern to players:

-the league's personal conduct policy;

-drug testing;

-benefits, such as pension funds, the disability plan, and the "88 Plan," which provides money for care of former players with dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

The major economic framework for a 10-year deal was worked out a week ago. That included how the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues will be divided (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about $120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011 - and at least that in 2012 and 2013 - plus about $22 million benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on first-round draft picks; and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons.

Commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners expressed hope Thursday night that their vote would lead to a speedy resolution to the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987. They called it an equitable deal that improves player safety and allows the sport to prosper even more.

"It is time to get back to football," a weary Goodell said.

Already, one game is sure to be lost: The league called off the Hall of Fame exhibition opener, scheduled for Aug. 7 between the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams.