The NFL and the NFLPA* have big plans for the week. The league hopes to present to its owners on Thursday a new labor deal for approval, which is expected to happen without any major issues. And the NFLPA* hopes to lose its asterisk via the resumption of its union status, after at least 50 percent plus one of the players vote to return to being a union, and in turn to accept the terms of the new labor deal.
They’re cutting it pretty damn close.
Albert Breer of NFL Network reports that Monday’s meetings in Manhattan have ended, with the lawyers for the two sides meeting until 6:30 p.m. ET. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan arrived at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, members of the NFLPA* Executive Committee are gathering in Washington, D.C., to evaluate the proposed deal. On Wednesday, the player reps will meet in Washington to evaluate the proposed deal, in advance of a vote of all players.
Still, there’s no final deal. And if there’s no final deal, why in the hell aren’t they meeting face to face to get to a final deal?
Apparently, the parties assume that they’ll have enough time tomorrow. And maybe they will. But if they don’t, we’ll blame it all in part on the fact that, with the talks truly in crunch time, the meetings ended with more than five hours left in the day.