Pro football is back. An agreement was finally reached recently between the NFL owners and the players association on how to divide the $9 billion a year the league makes in revenue. The agreement ended a lockout of the players by the owners that began in March.

The agreement is a win for the fans who get to start following football developments, including free agent moves, draft choices finally signing and training camp starting.

After all, those fans are the ones who generate that $9 billion pie both sides fought over.

The agreement is a win for the fans also because the new deal is a 10-year agreement, which should help avoid another labor dispute for a decade.

Minnesotans are weary of government shutdowns, possible default by the federal government and politicians digging in their heels. The fact that players and owners found a way to get the deal done is refreshing.

At least in the NFL, compromise isn’t a dirty word. Are you listening, members of Congress?

Another aspect of the agreement that deserves a shout-out are the changes to offseason and in-season practice rules that should make the game safer for the players.

What’s next besides the arrival of quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Minnesota Vikings and the loss of top wide receiver Sidney Rice from the Vikings to the Seattle Seahawks?

There still remains that matter of the proposed new stadium for the Vikings.

Let’s hope that with the completion of the NFL collective bargaining agreement, Vikings owner Zigi Wilf and the other top management of the team can update their stadium proposal.

The Vikings lease at the Metrodome expires at the end of 2011. When it does, the Vikings will be the only NFL team without a lease for next season. While there appear to be a couple of major items to be worked out (including who pays for transportation improvements at the proposed site in Arden Hills) before a revised stadium proposal can be considered by the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton, let’s hope that progress can be made and the decision not left to the last minute.

The Vikings are a part of what makes Minnesota unique and it would be a shame to lose the team to another city — especially Los Angeles.

Getting the team a new stadium may require — here comes that word again — compromise.

Let’s hope the new NFL contract will move that process ahead.

— St. Cloud Times. July 31, 2011