Soon right after hearing that NFL players made peace with their owners, LaMarr Woodley used his Twitter account to share his emotions.
“Let’s play some football,” he tweeted.
Woodley, the Steelers’ $10 million linebacker, and the teammates will probably be playing football very soon now that the NFL’s 136-day labor deadlock is passed. On Monday, the players’ union accepted the brand new collective bargaining arrangement, therefore putting each and every team in the league in hurry-up mode. “It’s fair to say we’re in uncharted territory,” Steelers president Art Rooney stated. “We’ve never had to start up a league year like this. But every team is in the same boat.”
As soon as the new 10-year CBA became official, the Pittsburgh Steelers instantly went to work trying out which 90 players they will have with them in training camp. Today, Steelers currently under contract are permitted to come into team headquarters on the South Side. Also today, the Steelers can start to negotiate player contracts with their very own free agents as well as other free agents all through the league. They are able to sign their own drafted rookies and any undrafted free-agent rookie as early as today but cannot sign any free agents right up until 6 p.m. Friday.
Rookies as well as veterans who are under contract should report to training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe by 3 p.m. Thursday. They are going to take part in a conditioning test at 4 p.m. Thursday. Then on Friday and Saturday, they will take part in non-contact practices. The first complete contact practice in pads will be Sunday. As part of the new CBA, there will probably no longer be two-a-day practices throughout camp. The Steelers will maintain non-contact “walk through” sessions on a number of mornings at camp. But they can just have one full contact practice each day.
“We were able to negotiate a fair agreement that will allow players, owners and fans to enjoy football for a decade,” Rooney stated of the new CBA. “It’s a significant agreement in that regard.” Included in the financial framework of the new offer is revenue split of 53 percent to the owners as well as 47 to the players. That split was fundamentally 50/50 in the old CBA. There is also a $120.4 million for each team salary cap which goes into effect at 4:01 p.m. Aug. 4. “Well, it’s like other years. Being prepared to get under the cap is something we’ve been through before,” Rooney mentioned. “The challenge this time around is to handle that business in a short period of time. Our guys are back there right now trying to work on how we’ll get there and trying to piece together the roster.”
Simply because this year’s wage cap is $8 million much less than it had been in 2009, the league’s final capped season, Rooney expects that quite a few Steelers currently under contract will probably be requested to restructure their current contracts. “There’s no question about that,” Rooney stated. According to a list put out by the league Monday evening, the Steelers have 14 unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents. The unrestricted free agents are cornerbacks Ike Taylor, William Gay as well as Anthony Madison; linebacker Keyaron Fox; defensive linemen Chris Hoke and Nick Eason; running back Mewelde Moore; tight end Matt Spaeth; offensive linemen Willie Colon, Trai Essex and Jonathan Scott; and specialists Shaun Suisham, Dan Sepulveda and Greg Warren.
The two restricted free agents are quarterback Dennis Dixon as well as deal with Tony Hills. “There’s definitely a transition that’s a little bit unusual for all of us in terms of re-starting like this,” Rooney mentioned. “But our goal is the same: to win a championship. So we are all looking forward to getting back to the business of preparing for the 2011 season.”
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