National Football League |NFL Lockout |NFL Lockout Updates

NFL owners voted over overwhelmingly in favor of a tentative 10 year agreement to end the four month old lockout Thursday pending player approval.

The vote was 31-0 with the Oakland Raiders abstaining from the ratification which came after a full day of meetings at an Atlanta area hotel.Now that owners have ratified a proposal to end the lockout, NFL Network legal analyst Gabe Feldsman explains the importance of the NFLPA rectifying.


Players still have to sign off on the deal and they must re establish their union the NFL said. NFL Network insider Jason La Can-fora reported that a players conference call ended Thursday night with no vote taken. There are signs the ratification of the deal on the players' end is in question. NFL Players Association general counsel Richard Berthelsen detailed issues he had with the owners' proposal in an email sent to player representatives on Thursday night. In addition to depriving the players of the time needed to consider forming a union and making needed changes to the old agreement, this proposed procedure would in my view also violate federal labor laws, Berthelsen wrote. Buffalo Bills safety and player representative George Wilson said on NFL Network that there's no timeline for players to vote on the deal.