The labor issues between the NFL players and owners is over... for good this time. The two sides reportedly reached an agreement on the final details of a new collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday.
Each team representative will now pass along the finished deal to the rest of the players association so they can cast their vote for or against ratification.
Assuming all goes as planned and the deal is approved -- 50 percent plus one is needed -- all veteran free agents will be able to practice with their teams starting at 4pm EST Thursday. During the first week of training camps only rookies and veterans that were already under contract could practice, leaving teams and players frustrated as they tried to get in meaningful reps.
New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin couldn't hide his distaste for how the first week of training camp was limited by the pending CBA.
"We need to all get on the same field for crying out loud," Coughlin said Wednesday night. "We have so many of them [players unable to practice], you almost need to hire another field so they can hang around it."