While the NFL lockout ended ten days ago, the new League Year has been held up while the players reformed their union and the two sides negotiated the final subjects of the CBA. These subjects included drug testing and appeals on disciplinary matters. it sounds like folks are optimistic that a deal will be wrapped up and voted on in time for practice to get started this afternoon. The 49ers moved their practice to later in the afternoon to accommodate the vote so the veterans can get some practice time in.

The new League Year also means teams will have to get under the salary cap by Friday. According to Adam Schefter, seven teams are over the cap:

The 49ers have a few open roster spots with plenty of cap room. Some teams will probably be able to simply re-work some current contracts to clear the needed space. St. Louis would be a prime example of that. One the other hand, the Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions are all well over the cap and would seemingly have to cut some folks.

Are there holes the 49ers might be able to fill with some released players? We'll probably start hearing rumors of cuts throughout the day, so go ahead and post links to any rumored cuts that are of note.