The details of the collective bargaining agreement have been haggled over for 4 ½ months. Lawyers spent the past several weeks drafting it all. Now that it’s approved by owners and players and we’re back to football, we figured we would try to distil it for you. Here are 10 things you need to know about the new CBA: 10 Years Of Labor Peace It’s officially a 10-year deal and a decade of labor peace. There were last-minute rumors that there could be an opt-out clause after five or seven years, but they didn’t come to fruition. Players Get Smaller Percentage Of Larger Revenue Pie “Revenue” will be calculated differently, now shifting to an all revenue model. That means the pie will be bigger, and although the players’ share will drop from about 50 percent to averaging at least 47 percent over the next 10 years, they’ll still see similar money. Salary Cap And Mandatory Spending The salary cap is set at $120.375 million, but will rise with revenues. Teams can “borrow” up to $6.5 million this offseason to cover veteran costs. Franchises must spend 99 percent of the salary cap between 2011 and 2012. It falls to 95 percent after that and at least 89 percent from 2013-2020. Rookie Wage Scale High first-round picks are taking the biggest hit, which will be money filtered back to veteran players. All first-round picks get four-year deals with the option of a fifth. Beyond that, it’s all three-year contracts. Bonus Cap For Undrafted Free Agents Gone are the days when teams could lure undrafted free agents with exorbitant signing bonuses. Now every team has a $75,000 signing bonus limit on the entire class. Minimum Player Salaries Increase Nearly half the players in the league make the minimum salary. Now that has gone from $320,000 to $375,000 for first-year players, a substantial raise. Revenue Sharing Separate from the players, the owners agreed to a 10-year plan that will tax the highest-earning teams to help promote financial balance in the league. Money will go to the lowest-revenue teams. 18-Game Regular Season Shelved A popular topic heading into negotiations, the notion of an 18-game regular season was dismissed. Owners can re-address it in 2013, but a change would have to be approved by the players. Player Safety Precautions Two-a-days in pads at training camp are a thing of the past. Teams will also conduct just 14 padded practices over the course of the regular season. OTAs have been reduced from 14 days to 10 and the offseason program was reduced by five weeks total. Retiree Benefits Improve About $1 billion was put into new funds for retired players, including $620 million for the “Legacy Fund” that will increase pensions for pre-1993 retirees. Players can also opt into league health care insurance for life as opposed to it ending after five years. Tags: 10 Things to Know, CBA, Collective Bargaining Agreement Comment on this entry below