Completing the final part of the labor negotiations, the players have now ratified the new CBA, so reports Jay Glazer. This means that all players, including free agents, are finally allowed to practice. It also means that we finally have official labor peace through the 2020 season, including the 2021 draft. No more labor talk for 10 years! Hurray!
Two key issues in the new CBA relate to the Personal Conduct Policy and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) testing. The players have agreed to allow testing for HGH, and the details of that will be worked in the coming weeks. This is significant because it is supposedly widely used in the NFL. In 2009, Earnest Graham estimated 30% of all players used HGH. In addition, Roger Goodell retains full control of the Personal Conduct Policy, which does could be a problem for Aqib Talib.
For the Bucs, this means they can finally put together a halfway decent offensive line. Davin Joseph, James Lee, Jeremy Trueblood and Demar Dotson were some of the re-signed free agents not allowed to practice because the CBA had not been ratified yet. In addition to those four offensive linemen, QB Rudy Carpenter, PK Connor Barth, P Michael Koenen, WR Michael Spurlock, CB Elbert Mack, DE Michael Bennett, DT Frank Okam, S Corey Lynch and LB Quincy Black will be allowed to return to practice for the first time this offseason.
The Bucs are now complete for their first game, which is next Friday (August 12) against the Kansas City Chiefs.