Judge grants motion, lifts lockout; owners' appeal coming

[GMScud]

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

[NC_Skins]

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*

[BigHairedAristocrat]

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

[Swarley]

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.

[MTK]

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

[BigHairedAristocrat]

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.

[musicmaster45]

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

[Lotus]

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.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

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.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

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.

[Son Of Man]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

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.

Technically the owners do have the right to fire/release players. However, they don't wish to do that cause there is nothing stopping another club from picking them up. The lockout lets the owners retain their contract rights to players during the stopage which is probably why it was ruled illegal.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Well the 2011 draft was agreed upon as part of the last CBA.

[skinsfaninok]

Yes!!

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

Well the 2011 draft was agreed upon as part of the last CBA.

But last year's player movement rules were also agreed upon within a CBA so re-imposing them should be somewhat uncontroversial. Not beyond antitrust law - again I agree with you there - but acceptable as part of a kind of gentleman's agreement.

The players (aside from lawyer Kessler) are not complaining about everything that they could complain about under antitrust law. If they did, we might as well kiss the 2011 season goodbye now, because those antitrust issues (such as unrestricted free agency for everyone not under contract or no draft) could not be resolved any time soon.

[Swarley]

Ryan Clark to Steelers: Show up for work tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.

this is gonna get wacky!

edit:

Forgot to post this first

NFL won’t start league year without chance to seek a stay | ProFootballTalk

Originally Posted by PFT

“We do not intend to start the league year until we have had an opportunity to seek a stay,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tells PFT via e-mail.

In other words, if they show up, they’re not getting in.

It seems like a reasonable position. But it’s a calculated risk. The lockout is, until further notice, over. Any team that fails to honor that order could be in trouble.