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WASHINGTON (CNN) — An end to the NFL lockout may be imminent as a
committee of league players is scheduled to meet Monday in
Washington to consider an offer by club owners.
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A larger group of player representatives is on standby in case the
13-man executive committee votes on the deal, the NFL said Sunday
on its website.
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If accepted, the deal would end the the lockout that started in
March.
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“The deal is almost done,” the NFL quoted Saints quarterback Drew
Brees as saying in an e-mail to his teammates.
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“It is expected that we will approve the deal as well as our Board
of Reps and lead plaintiffs, and then have a press conference to
announce that sometime during the day on Monday.”
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Brees is one of 10 NFL players who filed an antitrust lawsuit
against the league over the lockout.
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National Football League owners approved a 10-year labor and
revenue-sharing agreement with players Thursday, who later that day
discussed key elements but did not vote on it.
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Owners, who met in Atlanta, agreed by a 31-0 vote to end the
current lockout.
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“It is time to get back to football,” NFL commissioner Roger
Goodell said. “That’s what everybody here wants to do.”
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But one player indicated the representatives were not satisfied
with the proposed deal.
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New Orleans Saints player Heath Evans, referring to the
collective-bargaining agreement, tweeted: “The owners tried 2 slip
many things n2 the CBA ‘they’ voted on that were NEVER agreed
2!”
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Representatives for owners and players communicated again over the
weekend, which led players to call for Monday’s meeting of their
executive committee, according to the NFL.
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Both sides discussed details players wanted resolved in the
agreement. They included the contractual handling of player injury,
an opt-out clause in the 10-year deal and “most pointedly, the
potential timeline for the recertification of the NFLPA (NFL
Players’ Association) as a union,” the NFL said.
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No longer a union, the NFLPA’s website is not accessible. Instead
its web address leads to an error page, which includes a forwarding
link to a website on lockout.
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The proposed collective-bargaining agreement with 1,900 players
would last through the 2020 season.
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An originally proposed agreement included a new rookie compensation
system, a salary cap of $142.4 million per club in 2011 and
additional retirement benefits, according to the NFL.
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In a bid to reduce injuries, the pact limited practice times and
full-contact practices. Clubs were to receive credit for actual
stadium investment and up to 1.5% of revenue each year.
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Current players could remain in the player medical plan for life,
under the owners’ plan. They also would have enhanced injury
protection benefit of up to $1 million of a player’s salary for the
year after his injury and up to $500,000 in the second year after
his injury.
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If players accept the deal Monday, free-agent signing could begin
this week and the four-week preseason could go forward with only
one hitch, according to the NFL.
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The first preseason game — the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame
Game, between the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams — was canceled
because of the delay in opening camps, Goodell said. It had been
scheduled for August 7.
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The regular season is set to open on September 8.
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The owners call for the free-agent signing period to begin this
week.
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The league’s owners imposed the lockout on March 11, suspending the
labor deal in place at the time in hopes of creating a new
financial structure.
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In addition to Brees, Players Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and seven
others subsequently filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league
on behalf of other current and eligible NFL athletes.
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A judge in early April joined that action with another filed by
retired players.
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Since the lockout, the two sides have faced off in courts and
around conference tables. The major issues have revolved around how
to divide the billions of dollars of revenue reaped via the league
each year, rules of free agency, a possible rookie wage scale,
retirement benefits and a host of other matters.
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The heart of the issue between the players and the owners was how
to divide the league’s $9 billion in revenue.
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Under the old agreement, NFL owners took $1 billion off the top of
that revenue stream. After that, the players got about
60%.
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The owners said the old labor deal didn’t take into account the
rising costs related to building stadiums and promoting the
game.