Despite Owners Vote, Lockout in Place

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday announced that the clubs approved an agreement that would settle the lockout, saying, "It is time to get back to football."

However, the players have still not voted on the agreement, so the lockout remains in place.

The proposal would put an end to Brady anti-trust settlement as well a supplemental revenue sharing agreement for the next 10 years. The league's vote was 31-0, with the Oakland Raiders abstaining.

However, the lockout will not be over until the players ratify the deal, and the deal that the owners ratified reportedly had terms that the players had not agreed to. The owners announced their vote at 6 p.m. CT. The players started a conference call at 7 p.m. CT.

They reportedly had little time to review the proposal.

The NFL Network's Albert Breer said that the overriding sentiment he heard from players was, "How do we vote on something we haven't seen?" They have until Tuesday evening to vote on the deal.

Bears players seemed ready to get past the labor problems. Caleb Hanie tweeted, "I'd like to preemptively cast my vote for yes on any agreement put in front of me....let's get to work." J'Marcus Webb said, "CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO CAMP!" Greg Olsen was more cautious, tweeting, "Personally I think deal will be approved by players. But don't forget owners approved OWN proposal. Haha."

Under the owners' proposal, facilities would open Saturday, and the season would open Wednesday. That means the Bears can start negotiating contracts with their own players as soon as Saturday. They could sign undrafted free agents on Sunday, and free agency would begin at 1 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

That would be a key day, as it's also the day that the Bears could report to Bourbonnais for training camp. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Bears are still planning to use their usual training camp home of Olivet-Nazarene.

Unfortunately, as was reported earlier this evening, the Hall-of-Fame game has been canceled. The league said that there was just not enough time for the game, which was supposed to feature Bears vs. Rams as part of Hall-of-Fame enshrinement festivities.

The Bears pre-season schedule is now slated to begin on Aug. 13 at Soldier Field against the Bills.