NFLPA approves new deal with owners

WASHINGTON -- Finally, after more than four months of bruising negotiations, lawsuits, acrimonious charges and countercharges, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith were able to say the three words that fans have wanted to hear most:

Football is back.

The two stood side by side Monday in front of the NFLPA's headquarters and pronounced an end to one of the most challenging periods in NFL history. It was the first labor negotiation for both, with Goodell having succeeded Paul Tagliabue and Smith having replaced the late Gene Upshaw, for whom the union's headquarters have been named.

"It's been a long time coming," Goodell said. "Football is back, and that's great news for everybody."

On Thursday in Atlanta, Goodell announced the owners' resounding approval of a 10-year collective-bargaining agreement. But it wasn't until the players signed off on the deal, after a frantic weekend of bargaining to iron out most remaining issues, that the sides could come together and end the lockout.

"To our fans, I know you love this game as much as I do, and I know it has been a very long process since the day we stood here that night in March," Smith said, referring to March 11, when he announced a few blocks away at a mediator's office that the NFLPA was decertifying and filing an antitrust suit against the NFL. "But our guys stood together when nobody thought we would. And football is back because of it."

Smith credited his relationship with Goodell -- often rocky during the last several months -- with setting the stage for Monday's announcement.

"I'm not sure any two people have ever come together in a more compressed, public, interesting time than Roger and I,'' Smith said, "but I'm proud to say that our relationship has grown."

The decision by the players wasn't a direct approval of the CBA that the owners passed 31-0, with the Raiders abstaining. It was a two-part move to agree to a settlement of the Brady v. NFL lawsuit and to recommend re-forming the union.

Once the union re-forms, players can vote on the CBA. Owners and players have until Aug. 4 to agree on any remaining issues, among them player safety, the league's drug policy and its personal conduct policy.

Smith said he doesn't foresee any problems in agreeing on all outstanding issues. "I think we have a little bit of a head start on those issues,'' he said, "and I think the faster we can resolve them, the better it is for the game of football and the men who play it."

Teams will open their doors at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and there will be a condensed signing period for drafted rookies, undrafted free agents and unrestricted free agents. Teams can begin signing drafted and undrafted rookies Tuesday and also can negotiate with unrestricted free agents. Teams were allowed to begin negotiating with undrafted free agents Monday night.

No free agents can be signed until 6 p.m. Friday. Trade talks can begin Tuesday, but no trades can occur until 6 p.m. Friday.

Training camps will open in a staggered order, with 10 opening Wednesday, another 10 Thursday, 10 more Friday and two Sunday. The Giants begin camp Friday and the Jets open Sunday. Both teams will train at their New Jersey complexes after canceling plans to train at their usual locations in Albany (Giants) and Cortland (Jets).

Preseason games will begin Aug. 11, with only the Aug. 7 Hall of Fame game canceled. One regular-season game was canceled during the 1987 players' strike, the last work stoppage.

"Our players can't be more excited than going back and doing the thing they love the most," NFLPA president and former Jets center Kevin Mawae said. "We always said throughout the process that we would do a deal when it's the right deal, and our players did that. We fought for our ground and worked with the owners to get a deal that we feel is fair for everybody."

Giants president and co-owner John Mara, a member of the owners' negotiating committee, thought the deal was equitable for both sides.

"At the end of the day, neither side got everything they wanted," he said. "But what we did achieve was a fair deal that will stand the test of time and will be in the best interests of our league, our players, our clubs and our fans."