[CofR]

Several people familiar with the negotiations said an agreement in principle could be completed by Tuesday. If so, the players’ executive committee could make a recommendation to the players on whether to ratify it Tuesday afternoon, when the full committee is scheduled to meet. Some committee members began their deliberations Monday at the Players Association’s downtown Washington offices.

The deal would have to be approved by a majority of the nearly 2,000 NFL players, and that vote could come by conference call or e-mail.
The deal would have to be ratified by at least 24 of the 32 owners. The league informed teams Monday that a seminar on the deal would be conducted for clubs’ front-office executives late Thursday and Friday in Atlanta if it’s approved.

If the deal is approved, free agency likely would begin next week. There are tentative plans for teams to be given a three-day window to try to re-sign their own free agents before those players would be eligible to sign with other clubs. Hundreds of players are eligible for free agency, and free agent signings and trades of players have been on hold during the lockout.
It’s not clear if the opening of training camps would be pushed back. The St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears, who are scheduled to meet in the league’s preseason-opening Hall of Fame Game Aug. 7, are scheduled to be at their training camps this weekend. The first round of preseason games for the rest of the league is scheduled for Aug. 11-15. The regular season is to begin Sept. 8.

Also, people with knowledge of the talks said the league and players agreed last week to $945 million in improvements in retiree benefits over the 10-year life of the potential deal. That includes $620 million in a “legacy fund” for retirees, plus improvements to other programs. The agreement on improved benefits was first reported by ESPN.
The deal apparently would be for 10 years, although it’s not clear if it would contain an opt-out clause.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...IMI_story.html

It certainly seems like were coming to the end of this