GatewayRedbirds.com

I think this subject deserves its own thread, because the threat of a lockout appears to be very real, if not a near-certainty. The NFL owners are apparently very determined to do away with the salary cap in order to get rid of the salary floor, as well as eliminate revenue sharing.

D-Day for signing a new CBA is March 1, 2010, but this point is apparently moot as the owners voted to opt out of the CBA last May through a vote. The league will almost certainly head into 2010 as an uncapped year, but there won't be free agent bonanza because any younger players (<7 years experience) will essentially be restricted FA's, and only older players will be unrestricted.

This web site does a decent job of examining some of the issues:

Will there be a lockout in 2011?

There is no rule that the NFL has to remain #1; the owners would do well to remember this.

I would be sooo pissed if there is a lockout.

damnit. right when the Rams are on the cusp.

Well...no collective bargaining agreement was reached so the 2010 season will have no cap and no floor. Greenberg was saying on Mike and Mike this morning that players have said that once they get out from under the cap, they won't go back to one. I'm sure the owners have other ideas.

I haven't followed the details but I guess this has something to do with each side wanting a bigger piece of the $8 billion dollar pie? Awesome.

From what I have heard, the owners feel that the last CBA was, in retrospect, a bad deal for them. They feel that a cap isn't necessary and they'll gladly cash it in as a bargaining chip to obtain a rookie salary cap/schedule and other concessions from the union. The owners feel that they don't need a cap to keep them from overpaying for free agents. It makes me wonder if they are planning to secretly off Dan Snyder sometime this year.

Freed Roger wrote:damnit. right when the Rams are on the cusp.

And Raiders...