Eric Winston Happy Lockout Is Over

Today kicks off a week that promises to be hectic. Draft picks and unsigned college free agents can sign beginning at 9 a.m. today. Teams may start negotiating with free agents - their own and others - at the same time, but deals and terms can't be finalized until 5 p.m. Friday. Beginning at 3:01 p.m. Thursday, teams may terminate contracts.

"I'm excited to get back to work," Texans quarterback Matt Schaub said. "I'm eager to see everybody and settle into business as usual. It'll be good to get everybody on the field. It's pretty shocking that, through all the turmoil, it came down to missing one preseason game (the Aug. 7 Hall of Fame Game between the St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears) before we got a deal done."

Added Texans right tackle and co-player representative Eric Winston: "I think this is awesome. Our goal was to get on the field. I'm excited about it. I have to admit that, at one point, I thought we were going to miss some of camp and preseason because there was no movement."

According to Winston, the players will vote to recertify as a union after they report to camp. He said the process should be completed during the first couple of days, when final details of the labor deal such as benefits and player discipline can be hammered out.

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(chron.com)