The light at the end of the tunnel of the NFL Lockout is almost there for the fans, the owners and the players. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, a vote by the players on a settlement with the owners over the lockout and all other legal issues is likely to occur on Wednesday.
NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith is likely to recommend the new collective bargaining agreement to the player representatives (he did help negotiate it, after all) when he runs down all the provisions in an afternoon meeting. Once that happens, a vote will take place among the players, though player president Kevin Mawae is still expressing restrained optimism over the timeline for a vote to take place.
The next vote is likely to come on Thursday when the owners meet in Atlanta. Twenty-four of 32 owners need to approve the CBA in order for it to be adopted by the league.
Should the votes go as scheduled and predicted there will be several stages left to go. Those include an undrafted free agency period, a 72-hour window for teams to re-sign their own players, the start of free agency and then the start of training camp for most teams. The Denver Broncos are still expected to start things in Dove Valley on July 28.
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