Players Set Vote to End NFL Lockout

(Newsroom America) -- With a deal in place, players are set to vote Monday on a new collective bargaining agreement that will end the NFL lockout and get the 2011 season officially underway.

NFL.com reported that negotiators for the NFL Players Association finally hammered out an agreement with owners in the early Monday morning. It must still be voted on by the 32 team player reps and then all players, but that seems a formality at this point, sources told the football network and FoxSports.com.

Sports Illustrated writer Peter King said player reps have scheduled a conference call at 11 a.m. EDT.

FoxSports.com's Jay Glazer said that, according to his sources, team facilities could be open as early as Tuesday, and that training camps would begin Thursday for 10 teams, Friday for another 10, and then the remaining 12 over the weekend.

If there are no complications, players would begin arriving at team facilities Tuesday to vote to recertify the NFLPA as a union. Once that happens, players can the begin negotiating terms for things like player discipline, fines, workers compensation, the league's drug program and other issues, NFL.com reported.

At issue still, however, is free agency. Since teams have not been able to talk to their draft picks they have been unable to negotiate with them. Also, teams have been unable to sign free agents. Once an agreement is formalized and the players' union recertified, that will produce an unprecedented hectic period as teams scramble to get deals done and sign players.

Despite the frenzy of last-minute dealmaking the league canceled the Hall of Fame Game scheduled for Aug. 7 between the St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears in Canton, Ohio, site of the NFL Hall of Fame. If things are settled this week, however, no other cancellations will be needed, the league said.

The regular preseason is set to open Aug. 11 with Seattle at San Diego, with the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers set to host the New Orleans Saints in the regular-season kickoff on Sept. 8.

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