[JoeRedskin]

I bet the coaches are going ape-shit right about now. They may have been gearing up but, given the compressed time frames, I am sure a they have been preparing but I bet more than a few of them are thinking "WTF do I do first?"

On top of that was just reading how teams could lose RFA's midway through August.

Restricted free agency this year. Weird. The NFL hasn't finalized the timing for it yet, but there are a slew of restricted free agents, valuable ones like Roman Harper and Antonio Cromartie, who could have up to two weeks from the time camps start to choose a new team or go back to an existing one.

"Did anyone in the negotiations think how absolutely crazy this could be?'' one coach told me Saturday. "Suppose you're counting on a guy who's restricted to come back, and a week or so into free agency he gets blown out of the water with some offer, and we've already lost the chance to get anyone good to replace him -- and we're three weeks away from playing a game that counts. Whoever made some of these rules ... I mean, we could be recruiting free agents while we're trying to put together installation periods for the playbook in training camp.''

Under the plan being considered by the league last Thursday, the restricted signings could take place until Aug. 12. Signing at the last minute would give players less than a month before they played their first real game with a new team.

Read more: NFL owners and players nearing an end to lockout and labor dispute in time for full 2011 NFL schedule* - Peter King - SI.com