Comments on: Report: “Breakthrough” in talks

By: Daniel Daugherty

Daniel Daugherty — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:20:55 +0000

Is it just me or does everyone here sound like a plant for the owners?

By: rajbais

rajbais — Tue, 17 May 2011 04:00:44 +0000

Sal Paolantonio’s reports should never ever make PFT again!!!!!

I have never seen a bigger pot stirrer of inaccuracy since … Skip Bayless!!!

He was incorrect about the Eagles possibly firing Sean McDermott by their bye week and a potential benching of Mike Vick!!!

Sal Pal is a weasel and his network (ESPN) should stand for Everything Sensationalized Per Nanosecond!!!!

By: str82dvd

str82dvd — Tue, 17 May 2011 02:28:35 +0000

These talks would go a lot more smoothly if these players weren’t a bunch of retards accidentally blessed by good genes.

By: FinFan68

FinFan68 — Tue, 17 May 2011 02:10:34 +0000

Initially, it seemed odd that the owners were asked to submit another proposal rather than the players submit a counter to the previous proposal. Does this have anything to do with the fact that the latest offer happened under CBA negotiations and did not address the “settlement” aspect of this mediation? What, exactly were they asked to do…offer another CBA proposal or offer an initial settlement offer that could lead to a new CBA under the court’s oversight? I think it’s clear that the league does not want court oversight for the next CBA. Is there a way that a CBA can actually happen without the court’s involvement? (even if the players wanted a deal)

By: wallyhorse

wallyhorse — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:31:34 +0000

To me, this sounds more like people at the networks, especially NBC may be behind this. Although NBC did announce potential shows for the Sunday night slot if there is no football, given they have more to lose than anyone if the lockout stretches into the season, I would think people at Comcast/NBC would be putting pressure on both sides as well as the other networks (including Disney for ESPN/ABC) since the networks use NFL games to promote their fall programming. If so, it would be because ad buyers likely told the networks they would have to do everything to make sure an agreement is done because they realize without promos during NFL programming, many shows in prime time won’t get the same ratings and the networks likely are looking at lower ad rates for prime time shows if a deal isn’t done. So yes, this is a case where a third party might wind up being what causes a settlement.

By: TIM

TIM — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:28:31 +0000

The ruling that came today from the 8th circuit not only gave the owners the victory in the battle to keep the stay in place but they also stated in today’s statement that the owners are likely to win the verdict to overturn the liberal woman judge in Minnesota.
The players should quickly vote to fire the ambulance chaser Smith,who only knows how to file law suits and doesn’t know the first thing about negotiating ,and then hire an NFL veteran who knows his stuff (like Gene Upshaw),and get the union re-certified and get a reasonable CBA agreement,before the players start losing paychecks and worse.

As I have said all along,the owners can’t lose ,the only question there ever was is how much bigger a piece of the pie the owners will come away with.
Whatever deal the players finally sign,they could have had that or maybe even a better deal 2 Months ago !!!

By: willycents

willycents — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:28:13 +0000

smacklayer says:May 16, 2011 7:31 PM

Can someone help me understand how the “players” can negotiate anything right now. There is no union. If they are just negotiated an end to the law suit wouldn’t that just be with the named players on the suit? Wouldn’t all the players need to vote the union back in and then negotiate? Someone with more expertize pelase explain
————————————————-
That is the plan by the NFLPA* Force a court mandated settlement to the lawsuits, then re-certify to approve the settlement.

That was the players intent all along. They had to “win”, not negotiate because they are so incompetent at negotiating. As Desmith said…”we been planning this for two years”

Thinking of players and life in general, does incompetent apply, or is there another term???

By: thefiesty1

thefiesty1 — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:35:10 +0000

Nothing is going to happen until they kick DeMo out of the meetings. He will never agree to anything the owners put on the table.

By: bhester1906

bhester1906 — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:23:41 +0000

They probably just agreed on having tea at the negotiations instead of coffee…

By: vahawker

vahawker — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:58:49 +0000

Think Eller and Dee da Dee went shopping for hats together?

By: goodguyjohn

goodguyjohn — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:42:02 +0000

In other news, when does Jen Sterger’s new music video drop?

By: mkepackfan

mkepackfan — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:39:36 +0000

*rolls D20*

Yes, 20! I successfully disbelieve!!!

By: packers291

packers291 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:33:00 +0000

Players can accept a deal now—or wait until June 3rd when a real verdict is reached. Honestly, if they wait till then and the verdict is in the owner’s favor, the deal placed on the table will not be as good as the one that they will see tomorrow.

However, if the players see the verdict in their favor, any deal placed on the table will be better (for the players) than the one they see tomorrow.

So, which is it? If they had a crystal ball, they could make the right decision. I would venture a guess that the deal tomorrow may be the best deal they’ll see, period.

By: smacklayer

smacklayer — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:31:37 +0000

By: devoodoo

devoodoo — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:31:26 +0000

Of all of Carl Eller’s courtroom appearances, this is by far the most positive one yet.

By: whitemike55

whitemike55 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:31:09 +0000

Bob McNair is ready to sign Nnamdi Asomugha!

Get a deal done!

By: berniemadoffsides

berniemadoffsides — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:30:49 +0000

I’ve been duped too many times over the past two months to invest any emotions into this….

…then again, I clicked on the link pretty quickly. lol

By: bengalfannomatterwhat

bengalfannomatterwhat — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:30:48 +0000

While I hope I’m wrong I believe its more grandstanding by the owners they may want to negotiate but who knows. If judge boylan asked them to propose an offer and they refuse he tells nelson they wont bargain in good faith and it bites them in the antitrust case. Hope I’m wrong so my bengals can get their young guys ready for hopefully a full and rebounding season

By: marksanchezsmustache

marksanchezsmustache — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:29:41 +0000

I like the lockout as much as I like Tom Brady

By: bangyourhead4

bangyourhead4 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:29:29 +0000

Come on now. The fans need a touchdown!

By: thereisalwaysnextyear

thereisalwaysnextyear — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:26:49 +0000

“Sal Paolantonio of ESPN reports, citing Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller, that a breakthrough has occurred in the negotiations. ”

Doesn’t this define he said/he said journalism?

By: theembalmed

theembalmed — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:23:24 +0000

“breakthrough”

translated-courts agree with owners and NFLPA gets scared

By: readimgram1

readimgram1 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:22:40 +0000

While I would love this to be positive, with no counter offer from the players to find a middle ground from this seems doomed to fail. Someone remind me why the owners are the only ones actually negotiating and the players just say “no”….”no”….then fling insults at their employers..

By: jakek2

jakek2 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:21:30 +0000

If the offer still sucks, DeSmith should summarily reject it

By: ernieernie

ernieernie — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:20:20 +0000

On Thursday this will be over. a deal will be hammered out and were back to football. On the other hand……..

By: dryzzt23

dryzzt23 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:18:54 +0000

I hope the deal is in the owners favor. The players haven’t earned anything.

In fact the owners must insist that the players reveal their drug use to the owners so that the owners can adequately evaluate the risk that are involved in signing a contract with a player who has been, is, or plans to do illegal drugs or PEDs. Perhaps the owners should also be allowed to see pysch evals for players before the draft so that they won’t have to suffer another Demetrius Williams type situation.

Go owners!

By: benh999

benh999 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:18:03 +0000

In other words, at a moment’s notice, all the mass panic induced by sports journalists with little else to do with themselves could just end with the net result of a one month delay in offseason programs.

By: hoobsher

hoobsher — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:16:39 +0000

i would say ‘fingers crossed’ and ‘heres hoping’ but lets be realistic. these are the two greediest groups of people in the country fighting over a 10 billion dollar cookie.

just….no. or at most, unlikely.

By: dynasty233118488

dynasty233118488 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:16:14 +0000

what a joke…

By: mogogo1

mogogo1 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:14:49 +0000

The owners and players, uniting in their shared dislike of Cris Collinsworth, who predicted no football until at least November, decide to get a deal done today just to make Cris look like a fool.
Hey, whatever gets a deal done…