When the NFL and the NFLPA* burned the midnight oil last Thursday night and then decided to catch essentially the first flight on Friday out of Minnesota, the parties risked squandering the progress that had been made. One of the big questions as the big players reconvened today in Manhattan after six days off was whether they would pick up where they left off, or whether it would take time to get back to where they were last week.
Apparently, the answer is the former.
Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports via Twitter that “more progress is being made” on the critical issue of the sharing of the revenues. Maske cites “several” unnamed people with knowledge of the negotiations in support of the assertion.
Though it doesn’t mean a deal is coming tomorrow or Saturday or even Monday, it’s good news.
As to when a deal is coming, I’ve decided not to predict a new date in the wake of the fact that my original prediction of June 30 was wrong. Unlike the rapture guy.
But as agent Peter Schaffer pointed out during Wednesday’s PFT Live, if the parties are essentially fighting over $300 million and if money will be lost at the rate of $200 million per week in the preseason, it’s beyond stupid to not work out a new labor deal before the meaningless games start kicking out very meaningful cash.
