Representatives of the National Football League Owners are meeting with a coalition from the NFLPA in hopes of reaching some kind of an agreement before the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at midnight tonight. That is just one deadline the groups are keeping an eye on.
One tactic the NFLPA is planning to use, if necessary, is decertification of the the Union. That, in effect, would stop the Owners from locking the players out and this whole mess would go to the court system. The NFLPA must do this BEFORE the end of the current agreement, and the paperwork must be filed by 5:00pm ET.
That means we should know in the next couple of hours if any progress has been made.
Early indications were the NFL was planning on giving the NFLPA more information regarding the economic state of many of the NFL teams. This has been a point of contention, with owners claiming they are losing money in an industry that is making record revenues.
The two sides could also decide they will extend the expiration deadline of the current CBA in order to get something done. That is exactly what happened in 2006 when the NFL-year was delayed two different times before an agreement was reached on March 11.