Judge grants motion, lifts lockout; owners' appeal coming

In an effort not to bury today's big news, I'm closing the current CBA thread and starting a new one, with Judge Nelson's decision today as the jump off.

Judge rules for NFL players, lifts owners' lockout - ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6424084)

Guys, you have the next 5 mins to submit all your trades, signing, cuts before we make the appeal...GO GO GO!



*reposted from closed thread*

Unless the court of appeals issues a verdict immediately, free agency starts now.

from what all these legal analysts are saying, this means nothing in terms of what is allowed right now since there aren't any rules to go by. Then again they also sound pretty confused themselves.

Yeah safe to say, free agency is not starting now.

If there's no rules to go by then nothing stops teams from signing free agents, other tha. Waiting for permission from the league to do so... However if they wait for permission the players will file an antitrust suit since the league can't impose any kind of rules over the teams and players without a unionized force.

Either San Fransisco or Arizona will try for Kolb. I think quarterbacks will be the only significant movement

If the Circuit Court grants a stay right away, there will be no player movement right now.

Also, before there can be player movement, the 32 teams have to agree on ground rules. One would think that they had planned for this contingency (such as agreeing to reinstate last year's rules) but right now that does not seem to be the case.

Anyhow, in courtroom football the players win the first game. If we want a quick end to this fiasco, let's hope that they stay undefeated.

Its my understanding that The teams can't agree on rules without violating antitrust laws. The judge ruled that the decertification of the union was legit; therefore 32 teams can't impose uniform rules on a non-unionized workforce.

Personally I'm hoping the circuit court grants a stay and the NFL wins an appeal. The players have too much power an the owners have none. The union can strike but the NFL can't lockout. It's not fair. This situation is just going to force the owners to make another bad deal.

Its my understanding that The teams can't agree on rules without violating antitrust laws. The judge ruled that the decertification of the union was legit; therefore 32 teams can't impose uniform rules on a non-unionized workforce.

Personally I'm hoping the circuit court grants a stay and the NFL wins an appeal. The players have too much power an the owners have none. The union can strike but the NFL can't lockout. It's not fair. This situation is just going to force the owners to make another bad deal.

In an extreme, Jeff Kessler interpretation, you are correct about antitrust laws. But teams are operating as if such extreme interpretations will not win the day. Example: the draft, which involves teams agreeing upon uniform rules.