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LOS ANGELES, July 25-- National Football League (NFL) owners and players on Monday agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement ending the 136-day old lockout, the longest labor stoppage in league history. The league's old labor deal expired in March, and the owners locked out the players, the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987. Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith led the respective parties in hammering out a new 10-year deal which doesn't include an opt-out clause. "This is a long time coming, and football's back," Goodell said, "And that's the great news for everybody." "We didn't get everything that either side wanted ... but we did arrive at a deal that we think is fair and balanced," Smith said. As a result of a majority vote by the players to accept the deal on Monday, all rookies (drafted and undrafted) could begin signing contracts on Tuesday, trades could begin and free agents could also begin negotiating new deals. The basic framework of the deal was worked out over a week ago. The owners ratified a 10-year agreement last Thursday by a vote of 31-0 (the Oakland Raiders abstained), but the players balked at approving immediately, taking the weekend to examine various points they felt had been added by the league at the last minute like a supplemental revenue-sharing plan for clubs. The deal included how the more than nine billion dollars in annual league revenues will be divided (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about 120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011, similar range for 2017 and 2013, plus about 22 million for benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on new players and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons. Starting in 2017, players will receive 55 percent of national media revenue, 45 percent of NFL Ventures revenue, and 40 percent of local club revenue. | 
