One of the more contentious proposals from the NFL owners during the labor talks -- once you get past the basics like revenue and a rookie pay scale -- was the idea of right of first reffusal. Essentially, a team would have been able to match any offer for one of that team's free agents from any other suitor. (So if a free-agent Drew Brees got a 5-year, $50 million offer from the Vikings, the Saints could have matched it and kept Brees.)

That's gone now, and it will apparently be replaced by something far more dizzying.

That's right. Teams will have 72 hours to re-sign any free agents they want to keep. Dozens or possibly even hundreds of players' fates could be decided in three days. At which point, the free-agent market will suddenly be opened and become absolute madness.

Three days of teams scrambling to sign the free agents they want to keep, followed by an explosion of teams trying to get their hands on whatever is left. And you thought the machinations of the lockout were hard to follow.