NFL Lockout Thread

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:55 am

Owners and players meeting again today. Story below is from Albert Breer. Chris Mortensen said both sides are in "deal-making mode."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... -next-week

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:08 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
Owners and players meeting again today. Story below is from Albert Breer. Chris Mortensen said both sides are in "deal-making mode."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... -next-week Very nice to see this today during a break. Now let's get it done. I like that the owners are being told to keep their schedules flexible next week. Could we be close to a real deal here? Let's all hope so.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 11:18 am

Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reports that a deal is 80-85 percent done and could be finalized "within a matter of days."

Good news indeed.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 1:53 pm

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reports that a deal is 80-85 percent done and could be finalized "within a matter of days."

Good news indeed. This is really positive news and I love the CBS Sports report. Let's hope we're close and that free agency can begin in early July. What a fun rush it's going to be throughout July to watch all of the signings, trades and then training camps open. This could actually create even more excitement in fantasy football this year, don't you think? It will be a rush for everyone to get ready for the upcoming season.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but now it really looks like we'll have a deal in place to save the season. Now it's just a matter of time on whether we can have all training camps start on time and it sure looks like that will happen. GREAT NEWS TODAY!!

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:27 am

More reports coming in that the framework of a deal could be in place by this weekend. The target date to have a new CBA appears to be July 4. Everything sounds extremely positive and an early July settlement date would allow the league to have business as usual with 2-3 weeks set up for free agency/trades and then training camps opening and a full slate of preseason games. Let's hope it happens.

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:18 am

At a time when many are waiting for and anticipating a new deal between owners and the NFL Players Association, there was a point Tuesday when talks clearly regressed.

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One person close to the talks even went so far as to say, "This almost blew up yesterday."

How close it got to that point is a matter of opinion. The moment may have come shortly after lawyers from both sides were brought back into the process at an undisclosed location in the Washington, D.C., area.

As tensions rose and anger grew, two sources said NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith instructed his lawyers to "stand down."

With the lawyers removed from the direct negotiations, the process was said to get back on track and to a good spot. The scenario is an example of just how tenuous these talks can be and how quickly they can be derailed.

But it also is the ultimate proof that Smith and his players, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners, have taken the process out of the hands of the attorneys and demanded that they control it as the two sides try to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.

Mike and Mike in the Morning
ESPN NFL Insider Chris Mortensen says the NFL and the NFL players are trying to get a new CBA before all of the court rulings. Plus, Mortensen says Terrelle Pryor won't get taken before the fourth round of the supplemental draft.

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During negotiations in the winter, many around the league worried that the lawyers were controlling the process. But Tuesday's events are the strongest evidence to date that they are not.

Lawyers still will have to be involved in the final resolution, drawing up any agreement and signing off on what each side can and can't do. Any agreement would have to be presented to the judge in the case to be ratified.

Multiple sources familiar with the talks said progress is being made, but they cautioned that there's "a lot of drama and a lot of room for mistakes left."

To say this is going to be done in two weeks, one source said, "is borderline insane."

The sides are meeting again Wednesday in Maryland, in larger groups, and more meetings are expected next week.

[ June 15, 2011, 01:19 PM: Message edited by: mattjb ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:12 am

Nothing is going to be easy during this final weeks, folks. Now it looks like there might be a division in the owners' ranks regarding the latest negotiations. Here is a solid report by ESPN's Adam Schefter.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/stor ... LHeadlines

An internal battle is percolating at some of the highest NFL circles in which some owners are resisting the labor deal they've been trying to negotiate with the players, according to multiple sources.

A handful of NFL owners -- at least two of which are from AFC teams -- believe the parameters of the deal being discussed don't adequately address the original issues the league wanted corrected from the 2006 collective bargaining agreement, according to sources.

It is one of the primary reasons team officials are being prepped to stay an extra night in Chicago at Tuesday's owners meetings. It's not to potentially vote on a new collective bargaining agreement, as many suspected; it actually is to try to fend off some of the resistance that is mounting from a handful of NFL owners, according to sources.

Some of this resistance has caused the NFL to adjust its schedule next week, moving up the time of Tuesday's meeting and prepping teams to potentially have to stay into Wednesday. The league is bracing for internal negotiations and lobbying that will impact how soon football could return.

The surprise is that many thought this kind of pushback to a deal would occur within the player ranks, not among NFL owners.

In reality, the resistance has been there since March, when commissioner Roger Goodell was authorized in a vote of the owners to offer and negotiate whatever he thought was best for the league.

After the players decertified, owners were briefed on Goodell's offer and some felt it was too one sided for the players and not strong enough for the teams. Those teams never changed their feelings, and recently they have made this directly known to Goodell, according to a source.

Now that the two sides have begun to make some significant progress within the past week, some owners are pushing back against the deal again, according to sources.

This subplot comes at a time when the NFL and NFLPA have made considerable progress, much of it on broad-picture items. The two sides, according to a source, have agreed to an unofficial timeline as to how events such as training camp and free agency would play out if the two sides could come to an agreement on the more significant elements of the deal.

One NFL executive has been urging the league for weeks that, in order for the full preseason schedule to be played, an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA would have to occur no later than July 14.

This would give the courts time to approve the agreement, the NFLPA time to recertify, 32 teams and approximately 2,000 agents the time they would need to be debriefed on the new NFL rules, and players the time they need to get into camp and get in shape for the preseason.

There is a lot for both sides to get through. However, none of it can happen without an agreement that is closer than it has been in months but still a ways away on the most significant points -- division of revenues and jurisdiction over the next collective bargaining agreement.

Some owners clearly want football and are willing to meet the players' price. But others, remembering 2006, when a CBA that seemingly favored the players was thought to have been rushed through, want to make sure that they don't make the same mistake.

Adam Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:25 am

Okay, you know I have to post this one because I love the Packers!!

But enough about the stupid lockout for a second. THE RING is what we all strive for and the Packers went all out last night when they gave the players their Super Bowl rings. The ring is over the top, but worthy of champions. Awesome to see and now let's play football in 2011!!

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/ ... um=twitter

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:38 am

This is a solid update on the owners' meetings tomorrow in Chicago by NFL.com's Albert Breer, who seems to be spot on so far on many of the latest proceedings:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... _headlines

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 3:22 am

Peter King doesn't see nine owners rejecting a deal today in Chicago, which seems like good news. Here is his Monday Morning QB column from SI.com, which is a good kickoff before today's owners' meetings in Chicago:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... index.html

There are reports that the players and owners could meet on Thursday after this meeting in Chicago, which would be seen as great news. This is a key, key week for all of us, so let's keep our fingers crossed and hope it works out.