The players who received damages had teammates or players of similar ability on other teams who were unrestricted free agents and were paid more. 'Total and Huge Victory'

"This is a total and huge victory," said Jim Quinn, the players' lead counsel. "For the rest of the players, liability has been found; the only issue is how much damages they get. Maybe some will get zero, and maybe some will get nearly a million like Dave Richards got.

"We are not trying to blow up the world or look for the destruction of professional sports."

Joe Browne, the N.F.L.'s vice president for communications, said the ruling meant only that Plan B, which allows teams to protect 37 players after each season, was too restrictive, not that restrictions were illegal.

"What the jury said is we are entitled to have rules," Browne said. "The jury has said Plan B is too broad." Protection and Compensation

Plan B allows teams on Feb. 1 to protect 37 players on their 47-man rosters, leaving the rest free to sign with other teams without compensation.

In theory, a protected player whose contract has expired can also accept an offer from another team, but the team that protected the player can match the offer and retain his services. That, according to the lawsuit, restricted the player's movement.

Further, if a player's former team chose not to match the contract offer, the new team had to provide compensation in the form of draft choices.