The complicated case of the NFL lockout continues to be, um, complicated.
What happened Wednesday night, according to various reports, is that U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson refused the NFL's request to stay her previous ruling until the league's case can be heard in an appeals court.
That means the lockout remains over, which if you've been following the last couple days doesn't mean much. Most teams still haven't allowed players to work out in team training facilities or talk with coaches.
The lockout happened at the start of the usual league year, which means the start of the player movement period. It would make sense now to say that teams are free to make trades and sign free agents, but the league still needs to put rules in place for such transactions as the collective bargaining agreement has expired. Until there are rules in place, the league risks violating antitrust laws.
So there's news, but there's not.
UPDATED: 11:42 p.m, NFL Statement: "We are evaluating the District Court's decision and will advise our clubs in the morning on how to proceed."
According to the Associated Press, Nelson ruled that the league year must start immediately, but no team is obligated to sign free agents. The NFL will appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, but Nelson's ruling forces all 32 teams to open its doors to the players. If teams were to deny players access, they could be held in contempt of court.
That's a long-winded way of saying I'm not exactly sure what happens next. With the NFL Draft starting Thursday, having the ability to trade players currently under contract or the ability to start signing undrafted players as free agents becomes a big issue.
We'll keep guessing. The vibe is that the NFL knows it's better to work out a long-term deal before anything proceeds, but there's no indication the sides are close. So maybe the fight will continue in the courts. Or maybe it will just get stranger and more vague.
Stay tuned here Thursday for updates and lots of draft stuff.
--Zac Jackson
