On Day 132 of the NFL lockout, a resolution appeared imminent after theleagues owners voted to settle litigation involving several prominentplayers and ratified a 10-year collective bargaining agreement.
However, no vote came from player representatives during a conference call that lasted more than 90 minutes.
AnNFL Players Association source told Comcast SportsNet's Jill Sorensonthe league had not forwarded the proposal to the players as of 9 p.m.Later reports indicated players did eventually get the owners' offer.
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The next step in the process must come from the players.
Oncethey vote to reform into a union, which they dissolved March 11, theywould need to vote on the lawsuit settlements, and the last domino tofall would be approving the CBA.
While player representativesmet Thursday night, decision-makers from each team continued meeting inAtlanta to learn the ins and outs of the CBA.
Initial media reports said players were not pleased with the proposed deal, confirmed by their decision not to vote.
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Onhis Twitter account at 8:30 p.m., Redskins player representative VonnieHolliday wrote: Please dont get excited about that NFL pressconference. The owners have agreed on a deal we the players have notseen! This is not consistent.
An hour later, Holliday said onTwitter: Look guys I have no reason to lie! The truth of the matter iswe got tricked, duped, led astray, hoodwinked, bamboozled!
CommissionerRoger Goodell announced the league hoped team facilities would openSaturday to the players and the league year would start Wednesday. TheAug. 7 Hall of Fame Game between St. Louis and Chicago has beencanceled.
The Redskins were originally scheduled to open training camp next Thursday and have not announced any changes.
Its time to get back to football; thats what everybody here wants to do, Goodell said.
The deal has no opt-out clauses for either side.
Thiswas a long, tough, tough negotiation going back over three years, NewYork Giants owner John Mara said. I cant say we got everything wewanted to get out of this deal, and Im sure they would say the samething. That means its a fair deal. I firmly believe this is a fairdeal.
If the players ratify an agreement, the offseason will be compressed:
Saturday,Part 1: Team facilities open to players under contract for voluntarytraining, conditioning and classroom instruction.
Saturday,Part 2: Teams can begin to sign their own free agents and draft picks.Starting at 2 p.m., teams can negotiate withbut not signundraftedrookie free agents, street free agents and other teams unrestrictedand restricted free agents. Under the terms of the agreement, playerswith three years of service are restricted and those with four yearsare unrestricted.
Sunday: Starting at 2 p.m., teams can start signing undrafted rookie free agents.
Wednesday,Part 1: Starting at 2 p.m., teams can begin to sign street free agents,other teams unrestricted free agents and make trades.
Wednesday, Part 2: Rosters can be expanded to 90 players.
Wednesday, Part 3: Teams can open training camp. Players will not be in pads for at least the first three days of camp.
Forseveral weeks, NFL owners had identified Thursdays meeting in Atlantaas a key date to vote. The final vote was a reported 31-0 with Oaklandabstaining.
I think weve crafted a long-term agreement thatwill be good for the game, Goodell said. Hopefully, todaysdevelopment and the developments of the NFLPA the next few days willensure that.
Earlier Thursday, Smith addressed reportersoutside the NFLPA offices in Washington but was vague in providing anupdate, chiefly whether a majority of the players would vote in favorof recertifying the union.
The remaining stumbling blocks to aglobal settlement are the union's reforming and the elimination oftwo lawsuits, one filed by quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning andDrew Brees and a second regarding television revenue.
A vote byeach of the 1,900 playersnot just the 32 player representativesisrequired for recertification, which would then lead to a CBA approval.
Thedecision by the players to decertify as a union was a significant one,Smith said Thursday afternoon. Its something that is serious andsignificant and should be done in a very sober way.
Smithstressed that he and his staff visited every team over the past twoyears to inform players of the decertificationrecertification process.
Everyindividual person has to make a decision whether they want to be a partof the union, Smith said. Recommendations by the executive committeeor the board of directions are just that. The individual decisions aresomething our players take extremely serious.
I know there area lot of things swirling, and I certainly remember comments from someof the owners that we might not be a real union. But guess what? At thetime, we were a real union.
Major points of the new CBA include:
The regular season will remain 16 games. The owners took the 18-game idea off the table in March.
Arevamping of the offseasonteams cant have an organized teamactivity before May 1, although facilities will be available forrehabilitation and conditioning. Teams will be limited to 10 OTAs(previously 14), no two-a-day training camp days (previously unlimited)and only 14 padded, regular-season practices (previously no limit).
Anew rookie wage scale. All drafted players will sign four-yearcontracts, and a first-round draft pick will have a club option for afifth year.
A salary cap of 120.375 million for this year and a salary ceiling the next two years of 99 percent.
Additionalbenefits for retired players. Over the life of the deal, between 900million and 1 billion will be distributed, including 620 million thatwill be used for a Legacy Fund benefiting increased pensions forplayers who retired before 1993.