First vote on labor deal by NFL players expected Monday

For the NFL labor fight, the end is near.

The league and its players have bridged their differences on a 10-year labor agreement, and the wheels are in motion to begin free agency and training camps by this weekend, according to an individual involved in the negotiations.

The NFL Players Assn. executive committee is expected to vote no later than Monday to recommend the deal, then player representatives from all 32 teams will vote. Assuming those groups vote to approve — and indications are that they will — the rest of the players would get their chance. Beginning Wednesday, players would vote at their teams’ headquarters on whether to reconstitute their union and on approving the collective bargaining agreement.

Logic says NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith would not line up a vote of the players unless he felt confident it would pass.

Assuming those hurdles are cleared, free agency and the start of training camps would begin Saturday, less than two weeks before the first scheduled round of exhibition games.

While attending a charity event Sunday in St. Paul, Minn., Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson indicated to reporters that a deal is just around the corner.

“I think there’s some things that they wanted to go more their way — and when I say that, I mean the owners’ side,” he told reporters. “I think there’s some things that we made some pretty significant strides in player safety. We got the economics figured out. There’s a common language now. The economic side of it on our behalf is good.

“All around, I think it’s a good deal, and hopefully we can just get it signed on the dotted line.”

Players have been locked out for the last four months in the league’s first work stoppage since the 1987 strike briefly led to the use of temporary players. Labor peace has been a cornerstone of the NFL’s unprecedented success over the last two-plus decades.

Thursday, by a 31-0 vote (with the Oakland Raiders abstaining), owners voted to approve a new collective bargaining agreement that gives them an average of 53% of total revenue and the players 47%.

The proposed deal also reduces the number of off-season practices and the amount of hitting in practice during the season as well as in spring and summer camps.

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