If the NFL and its players continue to make progress toward a labor deal, a new collective bargaining agreement could be ratified at the next owners meeting July 21.
According to a detailed report by ESPN, that would start a timeline in which free agency would open July 28, a scenario in which nearly all clubs could open training camp on time.
The report, which includes details such as the expansion of rosters from 80 to 90 for at least the beginning of training camp, does leave the Hall of Fame Game between the Bears and Rams Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio, very much up in the air.
If a deal wasn't completed until July 21, it would make it difficult or nearly impossible for the Bears to report to training camp on time. The team's first practice is scheduled for July 23, and that also could be pushed back, which would not allow enough time to prepare for the extra preseason game. But the Bears and Rams would have full training camps, and the NFL would play 64 preseason games.
The NFL has drafted a document called "The Transition Rules," which lays out a timeline for the key dates leading to the start of the 2011 season. There would be a separate period for signing undrafted college free agents, and teams would be given a few days to re-sign their own free agents before the gates opened on veteran free agency July 28.
