2011 NFL Lockout The 2011 National Football League lockout was a work stoppage imposed by the owners of the NFL ' s 32 teams that lasted from March 11 , 2011 , to July 25 , 2011 . When the owners and the NFL players , represented by the National Football League Players Association , could not come to a consensus on a new collective bargaining agreement , the owners locked out the players from team facilities and shut down league operations . The major issues disputed were the salary cap , players ' safety and health benefits , revenue sharing and television contracts , transparency of financial information , rookie salaries , season length , and free agency guidelines . During the 18 week , 4 day period , there was no free agency and training camp , and players were restricted from seeing team doctors , entering or working out at team facilities , or communicating with coaches . The end of the lockout coincided with the formation of a new collective bargaining agreement prior to the start of the 2011 regular season . Background . In 1993 , the National Football League ( NFL ) and the National Football League Players Association ( NFLPA ) came to terms on a collective bargaining agreement . This agreement was renewed four times . In May 2008 , the owners decided to opt out of the 1993 arrangement and play the 2010 season without a salary cap due to the 2010 season being the last year of the CBA . That last labor agreement gave players 57 percent of the league ’ s $ 9 billion in revenue , after the owners took more than $ 1 billion for operating and development costs of the league . A major reason the owners opted out of the CBA early was that they wanted a larger percentage of league revenue . Part of the previous CBA involved a transfer of revenues from the higher earning teams to the lowest , even though some of the higher earners also had higher costs . The players , represented as the National Football League Players Association , were very skeptical that the owners were losing money as a result of their payments to players , and believed the labor dispute was deliberately generated by some owners in order to renegotiate their own revenue sharing agreements which are attached to the CBA . The players resisted any pay cuts across the board . The major changes the owners wanted implemented in the next agreement were to significantly reduce the players ' percentage of revenue , to extend the regular season from 16 to 18 games , and establish a rookie wage scale and / or rookie salary cap that would limit first - round draft pick compensation . The players wanted guaranteed a higher percentage of league wide spending and cash spend by every team per the salary cap on players , more benefits for former players , and changes made to improve health and safety including offseason and in - season training . Anticipating an owner - imposed lockout , players on every team voted unanimously in Fall 2010 to agree to renounce collective bargaining rights if a CBA extension could not be reached prior to expiration of the current CBA . Renunciation of CBA rights would expose the owners to potential antitrust lawsuits . The players would then lose the ability to collectively bargain with the owners . The league is exempt from most facets of antitrust laws as a result of Public Law 89 - 800 , passed in the wake of the AFL – NFL merger in 1970 , thus complicating any potential lawsuit against the league . The NFL hired firms to lobby members of the U . S . Congress on their behalf , and the NFL ' s political action committee , " Gridiron PAC , " made several large donations to lawmakers who oversee the league in numerous capacities , as well as several other influential lawmakers . The players union also hired firms to lobby members of the U . S . Congress on their behalf , claiming that a lockout could potentially cost each NFL city $ 160 million in lost business . Congressmen also indicated a willingness to intervene if necessary . The NFL had negotiated contracts with TV networks to provide over $ 4 billion in 2011 to the NFL even if the owners shut down the league and no games were played in 2011 . On March 1 , 2011 Judge David S . Doty ruled that the NFL had been actively strategizing for a lockout of the players for more than two years . It was determined that the purpose of the NFL ' s deliberate actions were to " advance its own interests and harm the interests of the players . " Lockout . Renunciation of CBA rights . Following the end of 2010 season , the players and owners had not resolved the labor dispute . Although the CBA was set to expire on March 3 , the players and the league owners agreed to extend the negotiations by one week , changing the expiration date to March 11 , 2011 . After a one week extension , negotiations failed to result in a new agreement . At midnight on March 11 , the CBA expired and the owners imposed a lockout . Accordingly , the NFLPA informed the league and the clubs that the players had voted to have the NFLPA renounce its bargaining rights . After the renunciation of collective bargaining rights , quarterbacks Tom Brady , Peyton Manning , and Drew Brees joined seven other NFL players and filed an antitrust suit to enjoin the lockout . Court rulings . On April 25 , 2011 , U . S . District Court judge Susan Richard Nelson invalidated the lockout and ordered the league to resume operations . The league asked Nelson to stay the order while it appeals to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ; Nelson refused . The NFLPA had advised players to arrive at their teams ' stadiums for work uninvited ; most teams allowed players to enter the front office but refused further access . The order to resume operations without any CBA in place left the league in " chaos " because , without a CBA , there were no rules in place regarding a salary cap or floor , free agency , and similar labor - related issues . On April 29 , 2011 , the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the league a temporary stay of Nelson ' s ruling ; the league reinstated the lockout following Day 2 of the draft . The stay was extended through at least June 3 , when a full appeal was heard ; the Eighth Circuit vacated Nelson ' s ruling on July 8 , affirming the legitimacy of the lockout , but also suggested that Judge Nelson could impose an injunction of the lockout as it relates to players not under contract such as free agents and rookies . Contingency plans . A provision in the CBA ensured that the 2011 NFL Draft was allowed to take place despite the lockout . In addition , there was also some cushion in the 2011 schedule just in case the labor dispute lasted into September and the planned start of the regular season . NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that Super Bowl XLVI could be moved a week later if needed , so that the entire season could be played in full . In addition , every contest in Week 3 had teams that shared the same bye week later in the season , which would have allowed these games to be made up on what was originally the teams ' byes . Weeks 2 and 4 were set up so that there are neither any divisional rivalry games nor teams on bye in those weeks , which would have kept the season as fair as possible if those games had to be canceled . The league could also eliminate the normal off week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl . Up to six weeks of the season could have been lost ( moving week 3 games into the bye weeks , canceling weeks 2 , 4 , and 17 , and moving weeks 1 and 5 to the end of the season while postponing the playoffs one week ) while still keeping a generally fair schedule with five division games and eight non - division games . The league also had a plan for a longer lockout , which included an abbreviated eight - game season beginning in late November . Goodell had also stated that the league did not consider using replacement player s . Other litigation . On March 28 , 2011 , four former NFL players , including Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller , sued the NFL in hopes of joining current players in their antitrust fight against the league . The 44 - page complaint filed in federal court in Minneapolis sought class - action status on behalf of all former players . The retirees wanted the NFL lockout lifted to ensure their pensions and health benefits remain funded . According to the lawsuit , those benefits would end if a collective bargaining agreement was not renewed by next March 11 , a year after the last one expired . On July 5 , 2011 , a group of retired NFL players led by Carl Eller , Franco Harris , Marcus Allen and Paul Krause filed its own class - action lawsuit against both the NFL and NFLPA , stating that the renunciation of CBA rights disqualified the NFLPA from bargaining on the former NFL players ' behalf . End of lockout . The NFL owners announced on July 21 , 2011 that they had approved a settlement of the players ' antitrust litigation by a 31 – 0 – 1 margin ( the Oakland Raiders abstained ) , but the players decided not to vote on the settlement because they did not approve all of the terms outlined in the proposal . After continued negotiations , the ten players named as plaintiffs in the Brady case approved the settlement on July 25 , and the agreement became effective after ratification by a majority of the players in the NFL on August 4 , 2011 . Although the settlement was approved on July 25 , the NFL didn ' t officially recognize the NFLPA ’ s status as the players ’ collective bargaining representative until July 30 , 2011 . When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith signed the agreement , the lockout officially ended . New CBA . ESPN writer John Clayton notes that there are five major parts of the new CBA : free agency , salary cap , rookie compensation , minimum salaries , and franchise tags . First , free agency guidelines returned to the way they were from 1993 to 2009 . This means that a player needs four years of experience to become an unrestricted free agent , and three years of experience for restricted free agency . Second , the salary cap is now $ 120 . 375 million , but unlike the previous CBA , the new one initially has no per - team salary minimum . Team salary floors will not return until the 2013 season , at which time they will be 89 % of the cap . For the 2011 season , teams have the option of using a $ 3 million exemption on a signed player . For the years following the 2011 season , teams have the option of designating three player exemptions at $ 1 . 5 million each . Third , the rookie compensation was altered . There is a limit to the amount of money given to rookies , with the maximum total in 2011 being $ 874 million . First round picks receive four - year deals , with a fifth year option . In the second through seventh rounds , there are slotted four - year deals . Fourth , the league minimum salary for players increased by 10 – 12 percent , based on tenure . Fifth , a team ' s ability to place a franchise or transition tag on top players to retain his rights did not change . Other major concerns included health and safety of players , as well as former player benefits and pensions . The new 10 - year collective bargaining agreement runs through 2021 , and has an estimated value of $ 12 – $ 16 billion per year . Players ' takeaways . The players won $ 1 billion in additional benefits for retired players , an opportunity to stay in the players ' medical plan for life , increased minimum salaries , the continuation of a 16 - game regular season schedule , improvements in player safety , increased injury protection , unrestricted free agency after four years , a true salary floor , and increased roster size . Some of the major player safety improvements included five fewer weeks of organized off - season practice , limited on - field practice time , limited full - contact practices , elimination of two - a - day practices in pads , and an increase in the number of days off of work . The players also prevented the owners from knocking them down to 42 percent of league revenues , with a decreasing percentage each year . Starting in 2012 , the players also won 55 percent of national media revenue , 45 percent of all NFL Ventures revenue , and 40 percent of local club revenue . Owners ' takeaways . The owners won franchise and transition tags , not having to pay $ 320 million in benefits for an uncapped year , no judicial oversight in disputes between players and owners , settlement of all pending litigation , a rookie wage system , full regular season game revenue , more equitable revenue sharing and supplemental revenue sharing , no opt out clause for players for 10 years , and credit for stadium investments with up to 1 . 5 percent of revenue each year . The league also cited the new CBA as a key factor in being able to negotiate long - term extensions in their television contracts , which were renewed a few months after the CBA was finalized and include minimum 50 % increases in rights fees across all television partners . The owners were unable to get an additional $ 1 billion off the top of all revenue , an 18 - game season , and rights of first refusal for the 2011 unrestricted free agents . Hall of Fame Game . The two teams ( Chicago Bears and St . Louis Rams ) involved in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game had set a deadline of July 22 , 2011 , for both sides to ratify a deal in time for training camp to be opened and the game to be played ( under normal circumstances , each team opens training camp 15 days before their first preseason game ) . When that day passed without both sides agreeing to a deal , the league canceled the game . The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game was the only on - field cancellation of the lockout .