February 1993. One of the player lawsuits, Reggie White et al vs. NFL et al, works to ensure players can negotiate with owners of other teams without their current owners intervening in the process.
This opens the door for free agency. With the NFLPA re-forming as a union, the players come to a grand compromise with the owners to hammer out the original collective bargaining agreement. In exchange for the right for veteran players to become free agents, the players agree to a hard salary cap. Under terms of the CBA, the combined value of player salaries will be no more than 64 percent of the league revenues.
The new CBA not only is deemed fair to both sides, it leads to competitive balance on the field and helps increase the popularity of the NFL. Considering the league's profitability boom over the past 17 years, along with rapidly rising player salaries, the system works as a win-win situation.