NFL owners ratify proposal to end lockout

The 2011 season is set to begin after the owners ratified the new collective bargaining agreement by a vote of 31-0, with only the Oakland Raiders abstaining.

It figures that the Raiders would be the one team to not vote, considering how badly Al Davis has been running that franchise, but it is kind of surprising that all the other teams voted in favor of the CBA, considering the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals were all against the initial drafting of the CBA last month.

Now it is up to the players to ratify the CBA and the lockout will end.

There are still some difficulties in the way. The players have to recertify as a union, then they have to get all of the plantiffs in the lawsuits to agree to drop their charges. Once that is done, the players union will vote on the CBA, and pass it.

If the players pass the 600 page agreement as soon as possible, then the NFL preseason, especially the Hall of Fame game on August 7 will be saved.

There is a loophole, the players could report to training camp without the players agreeing to a global settlement of all legal issues, if the union recertifies first.

This opens the door to a wild and wooly free agent period that will begin next week after certification.

Over 500 players are set to hit the open market, and teams will have only 72 hours to sign their own free agents. The entire process will be a "take-it-or-leave-it" basis, pressuring players to agree to new team contracts as soon as they can. In the meantime training camp should open up no later than August 1.

The CBA in itself is ten years in length, running through 2023, and the salary cap for this year is $120 million. Also franchise tags will remain in place, meaning that the likes of Peyton Manning, Vincent Jackson and Logan Mankins are bound to their contracts with their respective franchises.

If things all work out, the players can report to camp on Saturday, with free agency beginning on July 27.