Red Dawn
Go Big Red!
This thread title needs to be changed.
Rich Eisen said on The Dan Patrick Show this morning that he expects a deal by mid-July, as well. I CBA is not a small document; it'll take some time.
A lot of fans will have gotten really angry over a late free agency period and some missed minicamps.
What's with the tags in here?
i was kind of looking forward to seeing the scabs play
Prediction - There won't be a "final" all-encompassing contract agreed-to very soon.
Instead, the two parties will kick the can farther down the road by agreeing to smaller pieces of the agreement which will enable business to be done throughout the remainder of preseason - i.e. trades, free agency & possibly even practices (& maybe even games).
Eventually, they might even agree to proceed on all fronts under 2010 rules, with the understanding that a final-final deal may contain terms retroactive to the current contract year (i.e. Player A - under contract - would be paid according to the terms of that contract; but could have those terms adjusted later-on - upward or downward - to conform to the terms of the final-final contract).
At least, in this way, business would continue with no further disruption while, concurrently, the big issues of revenue-splits, rookie cap levels etc. continued to be negotiated.
I'm guessing the lawyers would scream bloody murder over this, but the Krafts and Saturdays of the world would find a way to get the job done.
It just makes common sense to proceed along those lines.