Although the NFL is telling teams to open their facilities tomorrow morning, at the moment the league is waiting to see how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will rule on the NFL’s request for a stay pending appeal of Judge Susan Nelson’s order lifting the lockout.
The NFL has filed a motion for a stay pending appeal and to expedite the appeal, and if that stay is granted (and ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reported that the ruling for a temporary stay could come as soon as this afternoon), then we go into a holding pattern.
The next deadline from the courts is that the players have been directed to file a response to the motion for a stay by noon Central Time on Friday. After that, the league’s reply to the response is due by 9 a.m. Central on Monday.
At the moment, the league’s motion for a temporary stay remains pending before the court. And we remain waiting to see what will happen next.