Even though the NFL is still in lockout mode, teams need to be ready for a new collective bargaining agreement and in turn need to be ready for training camp to start later this month. Teams like the Bears and Rams, which are scheduled to open camp next Friday, really have to be ready for the lockout to end at any second, especially with the new CBA potentially being ratified on July 21. Time could be very limited for those two teams.
Although the rest of the league has a bit more time to prepare, that doesn't mean they are waiting around to get ready. The Detroit Lions, for example, are planning for camp to tentatively begin the last week of July. Typically Lions players report to camp on a Friday and start practice on a Saturday, and it appears that is the plan again this year.
A job posting looking for training camp assistants for the Lions says the position tentatively begins on July 26, which is a Tuesday. Assuming the assistants need to get to work a few days before the players arrive to get everything set up, we could be looking at a report date of July 29 and the first practice to take place on July 30.
Of course, the NFL lockout has to end and there needs to be a new CBA before training camps around the league can begin. For the Bears and Rams the labor dispute could be problematic even if a new CBA is in place by July 21. They will have to scramble to make roster moves and will be adding new players after camp has already started. For the Lions, which likely won't start practice until the 30th, they will have more than a week to get players re-signed, free agents signed and undrafted free agents added to the roster if the NFL does in fact ratify a new CBA on July 21.