NFL Lockout: At Least We Know What the Post-Lockout Schedule Looks Like

Contrary to the way things seemed on Thursday night, the NFL lockout is not quite dead yet. But its death is near, and that means we can start asking questions about when the league will officially be in business again.

You know, things like when will players report to team facilities? When will teams negotiate with rookies and their own free agents? When will free agency kick in? When will camp start? And so on.

The lockout may still be going strong, but the good news is that we actually do have answers to these questions.

The good news is that the league will be back in business the day after the players and owners officially agree on a new labor agreement. That will kick-start a process that will begin with players reporting to team facilities, and proceed with various signings and other transactions leading up to training camp, the preseason and finally the regular season.

The NFL mapped out this process on Thursday night after the owners voted to approve a new labor deal. Working off of ESPN blogger Kevin Seifert's handy depiction of that map, here is what you can expect.

Day 1

This is when you'll see players show up to team facilities to work out and take in a little classroom instruction. On the business side of things, the 2011 free-agency list will be issued and teams can start negotiating with their own players, whether they're rookies, restricted free agents, unrestricted free agents, franchise players, etc.

At 2:00 p.m. ET, teams can look beyond their own borders to start talking with undrafted free agents, other teams’ free agents and the like. They can't make any signings, but they can start negotiating. That means teams can look, but not touch, players like Nnamdi Asomugha and Matt Hasselbeck.

Day 2

At 2:00 p.m. ET, teams can start signing undrafted rookies. Mark Herzlich, anyone?

Day 5

This is when teams can start signing unrestricted free agents, complete trades and you will also see restricted free agents sign offer sheets. Rosters can expand to 90 players, but all teams must also be under the $120 million proposed salary cap.

Training camp will open, but it will be limited to things like physicals, conditioning and meetings. No pads yet; no practices yet. Veterans like Donovan McNabb (wherever he ends up) can rest a little while longer.

Day 6

Still no pads, but training camp practices can begin. This is when we'll get highlights of Tom Brady throwing a football around, and there will be much rejoicing.

Day 8

Finally, pads are allowed. Get to work, McNabb.

From there, it's a straight shot into the preseason, which will lead right up to the regular season, which will lead to the playoffs and then the Super Bowl.

For now, though, the only preseason game that has bitten the dust is the Hall of Fame game, which would have seen the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams do battle in Canton on August 7. The first week of preseason games is scheduled to start just four days later on August 11, so we'll see if any changes have to be made to those plans.

One way or another, there's still plenty of time for the regular season to proceed as planned. If so, the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints will kick off the season on September 8.

I would ask you if you’re ready for some football, but I think I know the answer.