Andrew Brandt at the National Football Post takes a look at the labor deal that the owners have proposed to end the NFL Lockout. This isn't guaranteed to be the actual deal, of course, since there's still some wrangling to be done over some provisions that shocked players who hadn't yet seen them before the owners drew the deal up and agreed to it on their own. But here's the general idea.
Players will receive about 48 percent of all revenue, but owners will receive credit for stadium investments.
There will be a salary cap of around $120 million, with the potential for yearly increases depending on revenue. There will also be a cash minimum, as compared to a cap minimum, which will guarantee that teams have to spend real money up to a certain level.
All minimum salaries have increased $55,000 over 2010, and will rise $15,000 each year after that. As NFP points out, this will affect a tremendous number of players.
There will be four-year contracts for all rookies taken in the draft. There are also a number of provisions that will limit the salaries of first-round picks.
There will not be an 18-game season until 2013 at the earliest.
The NFL can decide to begin revenue sharing, and players want to make sure that teams have to commit shared revenue to player salaries -- a point of contention for the NFLPA.
Finally, and this is another point of contention, the NFL wants the players' union to re-form, and to use electronic means. The players want the union to re-form in the old-fashioned way, with union cards. The players feel like the NFL is coercing them, which is illegal.
Head on over to the National Football Post for all the details. Again, this is not necessarily guaranteed to be the deal put into practice whenever the NFL lockout ends -- and we're assuming it ends sometime in the near future. Instead, the players can counter, approve the proposal as is or negotiate some of the more contentious points before taking a vote.
For more on the NFL Lockout, continue following this storystream.