NFL Gathers in Orlando -- a Primer

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A soaking central Florida afternoon rainstorm washed out most people's plans, so instead of playing golf or catching a spring training baseball game, the NFL's coaches, owners and executives spent Sunday roaming the lobby and the hallways of the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes. It's just as well.

The league's annual meetings begin here Monday morning, and it'll be time for everybody to get down to business. Here's a look at a few of the things the NFL's movers and shakers will be trying to accomplish here this year:

Change the Rules

Or try to, at least. The competition committee comes to Orlando armed with rule-change proposals it will submit to the full ownership body for approval. The one that's received the most attention would modify the current sudden-death overtime to give the kicking team the chance to possess the ball if the receiving team fails to score a touchdown on its first possession. The competition committee likes the idea, but the sense among owners in the lobby Sunday was that it didn't have the 24 (out of 32) votes it needs to pass. More likely to pass (and more important) are the competition committee's proposed new safety initiatives, including increased protection for defenseless receivers and long-snappers and a new rule that would stop play if a player's helmet comes off. That last one's so obvious, it's dumbfounding that it's not a rule already.

Wheel and/or Deal

You get all of these people together under one roof for three, four days and you're bound to have some interesting discussions. Teams still want to talk to the Eagles about their potentially available quarterbacks -- Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick. The market is drying up somewhat (Seattle and Cleveland have addressed their QB situations in other ways, and the Rams look poised to draft Sam Bradford), but somebody's almost certain to take Vick off their hands at least. The Broncos are looking to deal receiver Brandon Marshall. Those deals might not happen here, but there will certainly be discussions that could lead to them (and others) getting done down the road.

Debate the New York Super Bowl

The 2014 Super Bowl won't be awarded until an owners' meeting in May, but there is much talk about awarding it to New York, and that will be a hot topic here. The concern is cold weather in February in an outdoor northeast stadium, but Jets and Giants ownership want it badly, and commissioner Roger Goodell has spoken favorably of the idea.

Answer Labor Questions

There's a ton of media here, and the hot topic on everybody's mind is the collective bargaining negotiations. By not agreeing with the players on a new deal by March 5, the owners ensured that the 2010 season would be played without a salary cap, and one of the results has been a depressed free-agent market. Patriots owner Robert Kraft told reporters Sunday that he'd never seen the owners so unified, but the fact is that there's more than a year left to talk tough and play chicken with the union before the threat of canceled 2011 games looms as a troubling reality.