The NFL's recently announced post-lockout guidelines did not include rules for free agency or player trades.

The league plans to announce those no earlier than Friday.

Without rules for trades, the first round of the 2011 draft will come and go without deals involving veteran players, an NFL spokesman confirmed.

That means NFC West teams seeking quarterbacks cannot make moves Thursday for Kevin Kolb, Josh Johnson or any other players they might want to target. Even if the NFL announces rules for transactions on Friday, as anticipated, it is not yet clear when the signing period would open.

If the draft comes and goes without player trades, teams will have to offer 2012 selections and/or current players as compensation once the trade period opens. That could complicate efforts to acquire quarterbacks. So far, the league has told teams to proceed at their own risk when trading 2012 picks, given that the previous labor agreement extended the draft through 2011 only.