NFL Lockout Almost Over For Chatham-Kent Football Players?

It’s been a long summer for Andy Fantuz and Shaun Suisham, longer than usual actually. The two small town football players from Chatham-Kent have been locked out of the NFL, but the labour dispute seems to be nearing an end.

Wednesday, the NFL and NFLPA met near Boston to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement in order to get training camps underway and to assure no games are lost in the upcoming NFL season.

Talks were led by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith. The consensus was that although progress has been made recently, an agreement is likely at least two weeks away.

Fantuz signed this offseason with the Chicago Bears and has been impressing teammates with his skills in informal workouts held in the Chicago area. His former Saskatchewan Roughriders teammates in the CFL have already completed training camp and are into their preseason schedule. Suisham on the other hand played later than most professional football players last season advancing to the Super Bowl as the kicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, a game they eventually lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Disputes are still ongoing over revenue sharing and salary cap terms, however reports indicate that both sides remain optimistic about getting a deal done, and having players in trainnig camps when they are scheduled to open in mid-July.

Continue to follow the Chatham-Kent Sports Network for more updates on the NFL lockout. As well, CKSN will provide updates regarding Andy Fantuz’ roster status with the Chicago Bears, and contract updates for Shaun Suisham, who is currently an unrestricted free agent and unable to re-sign until the NFL lockout ends.