Schefter is saying teams can SIGN their own players and tomorrow teams can sign free agents. It may be limited because so many teams are unaware of the new rules for contracts. It's not likely a guy like Aso signs a lucrative deal immediately Schefter is typically the guy to believe, but it seems nfl network is saying that signings can't happen until Saturday
I think they don't become "official" until Saturday whatever the fuck that means. From Jay Glazer (via PFT): Though free agents from other teams can’t be signed until 6:00 p.m. ET Friday, teams will be permitted to talk with them (and, presumably, line up deals in principle) beginning Tuesday.
the conference call for player reps is at 11 am with the vote followed up by pending approval from NFLPA executives. the official player union cant recertify sometime till weds with other votes. thats when the CBA becomes 100 percent legal thats why they keep throwing the phrase tentative agreement around either way football is back
Latest timeline: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6799301/latest-nfl-timeline-starts-tuesday Source: New timeline starts Tuesday Free-agent and trade negotiations may begin Tuesday and transactions can be filed with the league office Friday at 6 p.m. ET, according to an updated timeline for league business to begin, sources told ESPN.com's John Clayton. A source at the highest-level had earlier told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that those talks might begin as soon as Monday afternoon and the league year would have begun Aug. 2, if the NFL Players Association signed off on it. The updated timeline from league sources: • Monday: The NFL will announce that teams can go to 90-man rosters and the official free-agent list will be distributed to teams. • Tuesday: Teams can reach agreements with rookies and undrafted free agents beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Teams can reach agreements with all free agents and signed players are allowed to enter team facilities. • Wednesday: Players can begin reporting to training camps 15 days before their first preseason games. According to the proposed timeline, 10 teams would report on Wednesday, 10 more on Thursday and 10 additional teams on Friday. The New York Jets and Houston Texans would be the last two teams to report, on Sunday. • Thursday: Teams can begin to cut players at 4 p.m. ET. • Friday: Teams can begin filing transactions to the league office at 6 p.m. ET. • Aug. 4: Deadline for recertification and ratification of the collective bargaining agreement by the players. The NFLPA executive committee began meeting at 11 a.m. Monday in Washington, D.C., and sources said they will recommend approval of the settlement with the NFL's owners. A high-ranking NFLPA executive told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that lawyers on both sides are finalizing some of the language on the settlement agreement. Members of the NFLPA executive committee and some of the named plaintiffs are in Washington, D.C., on Monday to review the final deal. Once the lead plaintiffs in the Tom Brady antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and the NFLPA executive committee are comfortable with the final deal, they will then -- along with NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith -- present the final settlement to the 32 player representatives for a vote. According to the source, it's not going to be a "rubber stamp" vote but players should vote to approve the settlement. Smith, who hopes to mend fences with NFL's retired players, has a conference call Monday morning with the former players to share with them the gains that they made in this deal, including the unprecedented "legacy fund." The final process for negotiating the new collective bargaining agreement will begin after the settlement agreement is passed and the NFLPA recertifies as a union. Benefits and health care, handling of grievances and the substance-abuse policy are all things that players will negotiate after they reform as a union, but the lack of a CBA will not hold up 2011 league business from beginning. Owners overwhelmingly approved a proposal last week, but some unresolved issues still needed to be figured out to satisfy players; the owners do not need to vote again. The major economic framework for the deal was worked out more than a week ago. That included how the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues will be divided (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about $120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011 -- and at least that in 2012 and 2013 -- plus about $22 million for benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on first-round draft picks; and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons. ESPN.com senior NFL writer John Clayton, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter and ESPN's senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press also was used.
"Official" timeline, for what it's worth: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/25/the-timeline-given-to-executive-committee-and-player-representatives/ The timeline given to Executive Committee and player representatives Posted by Mike Florio on July 25, 2011, 1:15 PM EDT Everyone has a timeline, so we decided we should get one, too. We got ours from a pretty good source. It’s the actual hard copy being considered by the NFLPA* Executive Committee and board of player representatives. Titled “Article 11, Transition Rules for the 2011 League Year,” here’s what the document provides. Today, the NFL will publish a Free Agency List. On Tuesday, team facilities will open for voluntary training, conditioning, and classroom instruction. On Tuesday, trades can begin. At 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, teams may sign drafted rookies, undrafted rookies, and negotiate with (but not sign) their own unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, exclusive-rights players, and franchise players. Also, beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, teams may negotiate with, but not sign or give offer sheets to, other team’s unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, and franchise players. At 4:01 p.m. ET on Thursday, teams may waive or terminate player contracts. At 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, teams may renegotiate existing player contracts, sign their own unrestricted free agents, sign their own restricted free agents, and sign their franchise players. Also at 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, teams may sign unrestricted free agents from other teams, restricted free agents from other teams, and franchise players from other teams. No payment of any kind can be made to any player until the CBA has been ratified by the players. The 2011 league year will begin no later than August 4. When the 2011 league year begins, teams must be under the salary cap. (Specifically, their highest 51 cap numbers must fit under the cap.) Thus, look for some teams to possibly go over the projected cap this week, and then to find a way to get under the cap before the official start of the league year.
