During Michael Silver’s appearance on PFT Live Friday, Silver said he believed that an extension of CBA talks on Friday would essentially be a signal the deal will get done in the next week.
The feeling, from Silver’s sources, is that the extension wouldn’t happen without confidence from both sides that a deal could be worked out after significant progress on Thursday. This view that a new CBA was inevitable was repeated on NFL Network later in the day.
There is, however, a bleaker take on things out there.
“A source said not to interpret the extension of talks as reason for optimism,” Daniel Kaplan wrote for Sports Business Journal. “While many are presuming the extension means the sides are closing the gap, the source said while there has been some progress, it is not as much of a closure as some would hope.”
We heard this view described as a dose of “realism.” Perhaps it’s less about realism, and more a recognition that there’s a lot of work left to do on issues big and small.
Kaplan’s source sounds like a coach headed to halftime with a solid lead, fearing overconfidence and well aware that nothing is over until it’s over.
