The NFLPA* Executive Committee is on their way to Washington D.C. Sunday night in anticipation of Monday’s expected vote to recommed ratification of the next CBA.
Perhaps the most well known player on that committee, Drew Brees, sent his Saints teammates an e-mail Sunday, a copy of which was obtained by PFT’s Mike Florio. (NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora first reported the contents of the e-mail.)
In the e-mail, Brees makes Monday’s decision sound like a formality.
“Here is the latest,” Brees writes. “The Deal is almost done. I am flying out to DC tonight to meet with our Executive Committee and De Smith tomorrow. It is expected that we will approve the deal as well as our Board of Reps and Lead Plaintiffs and then have a press conference to announce that sometime during the day on Monday.”
While he cautions that no one knows the exact schedule for the next week, his timeline differs from ESPN’s expectations for free agency.
Brees believes teams will be able to re-sign their own players starting this Tuesday. He believes unrestricted free agency would possibly start Friday afternoon. (ESPN said Saturday.) Brees tells his teammates the Saints can get physicals and report to the team’s hotel on Saturday, July 30. They will have to report to the team’s facility on Sunday, July 31 at 2 p.m. CT for a team meeting.
“I can’t speak for other teams, but this is what we are doing,” Brees says in the e-mail.
At a time when the NFLPA* is reportedly still working late into the night, we’re hesitant to say any timeline is certain until we see DeMaurice Smith at a podium. (Perhaps Roger Goodell will be there, too.)
It still sounds like our remaining questions will be answered soon enough.