Wake Me When It's Over

As the weekend begins, the NFL lockout continues, as it has since March 11th. The only difference this weekend is that 31 of 32 NFL ownership groups approved a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that would last through 2020. The only roadblock now, is player approval.

The same players who say the want to play football. Yes, those are the one's who are dragging the League, and every NFL fan into this hellish limbo.

According to reports made by ESPN and NFL Network staffs, if the players approved of the deal Thursday, as they were believed to do (but did not) NFL teams would open their doors Saturday (see: tomorrow). Teams would have been able to sign their own free agents, draft picks, and college free agents as early as Sunday, with training camp and free agency starting Wednesday.

In a perfect world, the players would have already approved the CBA the owners approved Thursday. Doors would open tomorrow, and the free agent frenzy would start with the college kids early, and everybody else midweek.

Nope.

Now we wait. Before the players can approve the new CBA, the major outlets are reporting that the NFL Players Association must re-certify blah blah blah. Plenty, more knowledgeable people have written ad nauseum about the recertification process so if it piques your fancy, go read up.

I hope that the players aren't just waiting around until it's their idea. The time is now. All they have to do is approve the new CBA, and get back to business before both sides lose huge money.

It's been a long process, and I don't mean for my disillusionment to imply that they've been bickering over nothing or that it's not been a serious deal. Ownership and players both have their interests that they want to preserve in their working relationship together. For the past 2 or 3 weeks the story has been: the sides are getting closer, a new deal is only a few days away.

Right now, a few days is too long. Free agency, training camp, everything else can still start in the coming week. However, the players have to get their act together and pass it--soon. Stay tuned.