Though the labor deal still isn’t done and no one knows for sure when and if it will be, the defending world champions are making it known that players should be ready to show up at the team facility on Saturday for a meeting.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Packers are telling players that the doors will open on Friday, and that the team wants the players in town in order to get started on preparations for training camp and the preseason.
This presumes that the remaining issues between the NFL and the NFLPA* will be resolved in time for the players and the owners to separately approve the new agreement. The fact that the Packers are getting the word out shows how widespread that presumption currently is.
Of course, teams aren’t supposed to be talking to players during the lockout. For many teams, however, that ship sailed a long, long time ago.
UPDATE: Jason Wilde of ESPN Milwaukee says via Twitter that the report is “100 percent true,” and that he has confirmed it through two team sources.