The NFL lockout should be about to end as the owners and the Players' Association have resolved their remaining issues and are ready to send their agreement to the players to vote on, according to this report via Cleveland.com.
ESPN.com also reports on the story here.
Sources say that the players' vote is a mere formality. In other words, the vote will undoubtedly be to accept the terms for a new 10-year contract.
If this comes through with no hitches, there will be training camps by next weekend, and August can be spent getting ready for some football, instead of watching people with suits and briefcases parading up and down steps.
The ESPN report included these salient points:
Despite the fact the new agreement will require a majority vote from the players, that part of the deal between the two sides is considered a formality, according to sources.
The NFLPA is making plans for a major press conference Monday. But first the player reps' executive committee is scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C., on Sunday so they can vote Monday.
Just as the NFL would not have called a vote Thursday in Atlanta without knowing it would pass in the way it did -- 31-0 with one abstention -- the NFLPA would also not be going forward without that assurance.