ReutersAt a time when it appeared that Saints quarterback Drew Brees was on track to being even more clueless than the media when it comes to pegging the start of free agency, Brees could be right on the money.
Adam Schefter of ESPN has the “latest timeline” for the return of the NFL, which he says is subject to the approval of the NFLPA*. (It they truly have a done deal, shouldn’t they also have an agreed-to timeline?)
Per Schefter, the new league year would start at 4:00 p.m. ET on August 2, eight days from now.
Before then, however, the NFL would be back in business. Teams would be able to sign their own free agents this afternoon. Teams also would be permitted to begin negotiating trades, which would become official on Saturday.
Also, teams would be permitted to start signing free agents at 12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Those contracts would not become official until August 2.
Also, 10 teams would report Wednesday, 10 would report Thursday, and 10 would report Friday. The final two teams, the Jets and Texans, would report on Sunday.
The reporting dates apparently will land 15 days before the teams’ first preseason games. (If NFL.com hadn’t taken down the preseason schedule, we could figure out who will report when.)
Training camp officially would open on August 2, even though every team will have reported by then.
So, after six months on the roller coaster, it’s time to fasten your seat belts.
Channel Finder
HOooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!
Truth About what all this LockOut has meant to Football.
Owners > NFLPA (DeSmith and Kessler)
31 Teams (Owners minus Al Davis) > Current Players (To be further known as Soft Sissies)
NFL > All Other Sports Combined
Lets Get Ready for Some Football!!!!
So tell me, what ‘new’ poster are you going to miss the most now that this is over?
I think this is it boys!
FOOTBALL IS BACK!!! (Unless someone throws the contract under the bus in the next few hours)
Finally Football is here!
Wednesday:
Raiders, Cardinals, Ravens, Eagles, Cowboys, Broncos, Jaguars, Patriots, Seahawks, Chargers
Thursday:
Falcons, Dolphins, Steelers, Redskins, 49ers,
Saints, Bengals, Lions, Bucs, Chiefs
Friday:
Packers, Browns, Vikings, Titans, Giants,
Panthers, Colts, Rams, Bills, Bears
I’ll still wait on the confetti til I hear everything is signed. It looks good but it’s looked good before.
Seatbelt’s confirmed, ready for lift off, don’t screw the fans or we are done!!!
well, this is good
I’ll believe it when an official announcement is made by Goodell and Smith.
More like 6 months of sitting in the roller coaster seats waiting for it to start… only to have the engineer explaining how the roller coaster works and then watching the engineer and ticket guy argue over who was going to get the money from my admission…
NOW’s the time to fasten your seat belts? Who’s lasting 6 months on a roller coaster if they haven’t had their seat belt buckled?
Ha! If you guys think the last six months have been a circus— keep an eye on the village idiot here in Cincy. The player/roster/free agent frezny that is about to commence is way beyond his capabilities and competence.
Thanks Mike— great job as usual. Your old fashioned ways will only become more glarringly sureal in the weeks to come.
Cancelled my Sunday Ticket after 6 years of paying for it on Saturday….too late for me, owners and players. I love football and will still watch/cheer, but not on my dime anymore….
NBC has the Pre-Season schedule here:-
http://scores.nbcsports.msnbc.com/fb/scoreboard.asp?week=02&seasontype=pre
Unless, it doesn’t
Get ready to complain about how much a team gives up for Kolb .
Great! Now when does De’ Smith get fired?
arizonaben: Enjoy the thrilling game of cricket-checkers, er baseball.
I’ll stick with the greatest spectator sport, ever, thanks.
The sad part is for most of these fans Free Agency is the highlight of their season and almost like the Super Bowl…. But for Packer fans, we build from within and enjoy the whole season
As soon as I read “start signing their own free agents today” i started drumming my hands on the keyboard
The thing I will take most from this lockout is how a bunch of wusses the players became. No two-a-day practices and ONLY 14 padded practices for the regular season. Not even one a week on the average? This is definitely becoming an Allen Iverson league.