NFL players voted Sunday morning to approve the league's new collective bargaining agreement, which will mean 17-game regular seasons, 10 more years of labor peace, and an expanded playoff field of 14 teams.
On the player side of things, they will receive an increased minimum salary, increased benefits for active and former players, and more. The deal was ratified by a very close vote of 1,019 to 959 (51.5 vs. 48.5 percent).
Shortly after news of the deal broke, the NFLPA released a statement.
"NFL players have voted to approve ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement by a vote tally of 1,019 to 959. The result comes after a long and democratic process in accordance with our constitution. An independent auditor received submitted ballots through a secure electronic platform, then verified, tallied and certified the results."
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell added in his own statement:
"We are pleased that the players have voted to ratify the proposed new CBA, which will provide substantial benefits to all current and retired players, increase jobs, ensure continued progress on player safety, and give our fans more and better football. We appreciate the tireless efforts of the members of the Management Council Executive Committee and the NFLPA leadership, both of whom devoted nearly a year to detailed, good faith negotiations to reach this comprehensive, transformative agreement."
As ESPN's Dan Graziano points out, the 17-game season won't be played out until the 2021 season. However, the extend playoff format will be initiated this season. That will be fun to watch, as two extra teams will have a chance to play for the Lombardi Trophy in February each year.
Also, in the short term, teams are not allowed to use both the franchise tag and transition tag moving forward -- it's one or the other. That could have an effect on what teams were thinking of doing with their offseason plans.
It has been tireless work on both the NFL's and NFLPA's sides to get this deal done, and though there were many players that didn't agree with it, a new CBA was ultimately agreed upon through the 2030 season.