The time has finally come! After months of back and forth labor negotiations, the NFL Lockout is officially over and we can all get ready to kick back and enjoy the 2011 NFL season.
Now as NFL fans, we can start focusing on the important football news and the free agency madness which will start soon. No more boring labor discussions and lawyer speak, it is just the action packed NFL action that we have all grown to love.
Check out a breakdown after the jump of what the NFL owners and players each gained under the new collective bargaining agreement and get ready for some football! The 2011 NFL season is about to be underway.
Clark Judge of CBSSports.com makes a list of what the owners and NFL players gained from from their new 10-year agreement. You can read his entire breakdown here.
What owners gained
• A greater share of all revenues.
• No opt out.
• No judicial oversight.
• A rookie wage system.
• More equitable supplemental revenue sharing.
• No losses of games, other than the Hall of Fame preseason opener.
• Credit for actual stadium investment and up to 1.5 percent of revenue each year.
What players gained
• No more $1 billion cut for owners off the top of all revenues.
• Minimum salaries raised $55,000 to $375,000 in the first year and $450,000 in the second.
• No 18-game schedule.
• Vast improvements in player safety, including the reductions of offseason programs by five weeks, with OTAs cut from 14 to 10, the limiting of on-field practice time and contact, the limiting of full-contact practices in preseason and the regular season, the elimination of two-a-day practices and an increase in the numbers of days off.
• Increased injury protection. Players under contract once gained $325,000 in injury protection the year after they were hurt. Now, that vaults to $1 million in the first year after injury and up to $500,000 the second.
• Unrestricted free agency after four years.
• An opportunity to remain in the players’ medical plan for life.
• Beginning in 2012, 55 percent of national media revenue, 45 percent of all NFL Ventures revenue and 40 percent of local club revenue.
• League-wide commitment to cash spending of 99 percent of the cap in 2011 and 2012, with each club spending 89 percent for the 2013-20 — up from 87.6.
• Rosters increased from 80 to 90 players.
• Substantial increases in benefits for retired players, with additional funding over the next 10 years of between $900,000 and $1 billion.
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