Steve Wyche of NFL.com predicts that the free agency signing period will be a frenzy that resembles the rush of a midnight opening of an electronics store when the newest high-tech gadget becomes available. "It's going to be insane," predicts a prominent agent who has several highly sought after players.
If a deal is consummated by mid-July, teams would likely be able to sign, cut, and trade players within a week. And all the wheeling and dealing would need to be completed before training camps open in late July or early August. The immediate frenzy to sign free agent could be like nothing the NFL has ever seen before. Though no terms have been finalized for free agency, team personnel and agents anticipate that in addition to five year players and unsigned rookie free agents, players whose contracts have expired and have four years or more experience will become unrestricted free agents. That could mean close to 500 players will be available once a deal is struck, according to a player representative.
Many teams often wait a few weeks for the initial wave of free agency to settle down and the expense of the first-wave of free agency to level off. "They won't have time for that luxury," a league source said. "Those teams are going to be right there from the beginning just like everyone else."
To compound things even further, per this ProFootballTalk story:
NFL general counsel Jeff Pash made it clear that the lockout won’t end with the negotiation of an agreement in principle. Instead, the doors will be unlocked only after the proverbial i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.
“We would have to make sure the documents were fully drafted and approved, then both parties would have to ratify the agreement,” Pash said, per Judge. “We would have to do it, and the players would have to do it. There is some litigation that has to be dealt with, and so we would have to go before the various courts, and that would obviously [have to happen] on a quickened basis, as the court would hear us and have those lawsuits disposed of and resolved. Then we could open up. . . .
“If both sides are going to commit to certain positions and clubs are going to be signing players, large sums of money are going to be changing hands and players are going to commit to multi-year agreements, you would want to have this confirmed — not just in a general way but down to some fairly specific details. [Because the doors would be opened] you’re not going to want to close them again for either side.”
Florio at PFT listed last week the steps that would be required: "we opined at the time that all of the steps couldn’t be accomplished before the season starts, based in part on my own experiences with the settlement of class actions. Even if the parties can somehow expedite the process, it’s going to take a lot of work to turn things around in time for the first two teams who head to camp on July 22 — the Bears and Rams — to have a fair shake at signing free agents and/or their rookies.
The message to all parties? Get to work. Come early. Stay late. Meet every day. Order food in. Brew coffee.
Tell the lawyers to start drawing up the papers. Alert the judges and arrange for hearing times. If there’s any chance of the lockout being lifted by the middle of July, the foundation for finalizing the deal needs to be put in place now.
It also would help to have an agreement in principle. We’ve previously predicted that the parties will get to the handshake stage by June 30. Given everything that needs to happen from that point forward, June 30 could be too late."