With the current NFL lockout almost reaching four months and labor negotiations taking place today at a crucial point in which preseason games could be in danger if an agreement is not reached soon, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling on the legality of the lockout. They have ruled that Judge Susan Nelson's original ruling to disallow the lockout was against current law, making the lockout legal. However, the court added a caveat explaining that the league could not lock out rookies or free agent players because without contracts they are technically not employees that can be locked out.
Signings will not start immediately, but will likely happen after another hearing with Judge Nelson, who by all indications will rule that they can begin.
There is a little bit a of fear that this ruling could derail current negotiations, but NFL Network reporter Albert Breer just tweeted that the people he has spoken with believe it will amp up talks.
At this point the main thing that is keeping talks going is the potential of losing hundreds of millions of dollars if there are lost preseason games. Lost revenues could really sour negotiations and cause a much longer lockout.
I don't think there is a single person left that doesn't want a deal done now. With time running out, that is all that there is left to do.
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