All together now, Fantasy Football fans: Phew!

Last night, NFL owners and the players union found common ground and some common sense and extended the collective bargaining agreement, ensuring labor peace in the league through 2011. Despite an ongoing dispute not only with the players, but with each other, the top 15 revenue-earing clubs agreed to share proceeds with the bottom 17, while making a $102 million salary cap official for this upcoming season.

It will be interesting to see, however, whether this is just the start of warring between the haves (Jerry Jones, Bob Kraft, Daniel Snyder) of the league and the have-nots (Bill Bidwill, Ralph Wilson, Mike Brown). The large-revenue teams had to cough up big bucks in order to get this deal done, and you can bet a number of them are not pleased about it.

Interestingly, Wilson and Brown were the only two owners to vote against the proposed settlement by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Despite the fact that they derive the most benefit from it. Strange. Approval votes from at least 24 of the 32 owners were required to ratify the deal and finally end the conflict. The current collective bargaining agreement has been in place since 1993, and the NFL’s popularity continues to soar.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is optimistic about reaching a consensus by Wednesday and resolving the NFL labor dispute, even as lengthy and contentious deliberations between the players and owners continue.

“My gut is that we can come up with something here that’s good for the league and we can go on with,” Jones said. “But it’s going to be up in the air seriously, and is up in the air at this time. I expect a pretty drawn-out meeting here… I expect quite a push to get our owners to come up with something here.”

According to the Washington Post, the owners met at a Dallas-Fort Worth airport hotel to consider a proposed settlement with the players’ union yesterday and debated for eight hours. They will reconvene today and vote on the settlement proposed by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Several sources say Tagliabue reviewed the league’s labor history and spoke vehemently in favor of resolving the dispute for the good of the sport.

Tagliabue has not made a formal promise to endorse the union’s proposal, said NFL Players Association chief Gene Upshaw, but he wants to get a deal done. The proposed settlement calls for the players to receive about 59.5 percent of league revenues as compensation under a salary cap system. The deal would have to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 NFL teams.

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The clock is ticking, but at least for another 24 hours, Kerry Collins will be a member of the Raiders.

After being informed that he was being capped by the team on Sunday, Collins was given a stay of execution by the NFL, which extended the waiver wire deadline until Wednesday at 6 p.m. It was the third such delay of the salary cap deadline, as the contentious talks between owners and the NFL Players Union regarding an extension of the collective bargaining agreement rage on.

An agreement could add $10 million or more to each team’s cap, giving Oakland more room to possibly keep him, but Collins’ release still looks inevitable.

He’s due a $2.5 million bonus if he’s on the roster at the start of the league season, which now begins Thursday at 9:01 p.m. Then come the $6 million in salary and $4.25 million in incentives.

The Files’ prediction is that Collins will still get capped and become a free agent, where he will join the Baltimore Ravens. Collins, 33, had the best years of his career statistically and made it to a Super Bowl during a five-year stint with the New York Giants, where he played for coach Jim Fassel — who has since been named the Ravens’ offensive coordinator. So the Files sees a good fit in Baltimore.

Then again, the Ravens’ alternative is Kyle Boller. No wonder they want Collins. Wherever Collins ends up playing, he’s mercurial. Keep an eye on him but temper those expectations right now. Don’t set yourself up for heartbreak.

After eleven seasons, fans in St. Louis will no longer be able to serenade one of their receivers with Bruuuuuce! The Rams cut their longest tenured player this week, once renegtiations fell through on a new contract for Isaac Bruce.

The 33-year old would’ve cost the team $10 million against the salary cap in 2006, a figure the club could not justify for a player on the decline. Bruce missed five games with a turf toe injury last season, but still ranks 12th on the all-time receiving yardage list.

Is he worth considering as a backup wideout? Possibly. It depends on which team he ends up with. Consider Kevin Curtis (pictured below), however, the man who will step in as St. Louis’ second option behind Torry Holt. He’s due for a big year.

The NFL extended its deadline for free agency by three days, putting off the mass layoffs of high-priced players temporarily, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

League V.P. Joe Browne announced that the NFL’s owners voted to extend its standoff with the players union after a 57-minute meeting earlier in the day. An impressive 13 years of peace between the league and union are currently on the verge of unraveling.

The situation is as dire as dire can be,” said Commissioner Paul Tagliabue (pictured).

The delay gives the union 72 hours to negotiate an extension to the labor agreement, which could add $10 million to the current salary cap of $94.5 million. Many teams spent the day in salary cap scrambles, trying to get under the number and slashing payroll anywhere they can. Mike Anderson of the Denver Broncos is among the notable casualties so far.

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Salary cap concerns led to the release of Broncos defensive lineman Trevor Pryce on Wednesday. Oh, and leading rusher Mike Anderson (pictured) and tight end Jeb Putzier were also dumped. The Denver Post reports that with these moves, the Broncos are now under the $94.53 million cap.

Anderson gained 1,487 yards and scored 15 touchdowns as a rookie in 2000, and made an inspired comeback from injury last season to rush for 1,014 yards. He has been the leader of the running game in Denver ever since Terrell Davis retired in 2001. Putzier, a.k.a. “The Putz” (I just made that up) was the Broncos’ third-leading receiver in each of the past two seasons, making a combined 73 catches.

Pryce has been a standout for nearly a decade and was one of the few remaining Broncos with links to the 1997 and 1998 Super Bowl teams. Another defensive lineman, former #1 pick Courtney Brown, will be back for at least one more season after restructuring his contract. G.M. Ted Sundquist said the cuts boil down to the players’ unwillingness to accept pay cuts and restructure their contracts.

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