NFL, Players Close to Voting on Deal to End Lockout

(Newsroom America) -- The NFL and players are close to presenting deals to their respective constituencies in the hopes of ending the current lockout by this week following eight-and-a-half hours' worth of talks Monday in Manhattan.

"A timeline in which a new collective bargaining agreement could be struck is now in place," said a report on NFL.com.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, members of the NFL Players Association's executive committee began arriving in Washington, D.C., for a meeting that is a precursor for a larger one on Wednesday, the later of which will feature player representatives from all 32 teams.

While any agreement to re-certify the union will have to be voted on by all 1,900 players, the player reps could vote to recommend a settlement of the case, Brady et al v. National Football League et al. Then, the means to end the lockout would be in the hands of 10 named plaintiffs in that antitrust suit against the NFL.

Also on Tuesday, the NFL.com report said, members of retired players will also meet with current player reps as well as owners, to try to hammer out the portion of a new agreement that covers retiree benefits as a means to also help end the lockout. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, a court-appointed mediator, is also at Tuesday's meetings, the report said.

Despite the progress, some issues still remain, such as how to resolve the players' pursuit of $320 million in lost benefits resulting from 2010's uncapped salary rules. The league says players negotiated that amount away in the 2006 collective bargaining agreement.

But the largest issue - how to split the league's $9 billion to $10 billion in revenue, seems to have been solved, after owners and players essentially agreed on the league's economic model, said the report.

The Brady suit is still pending in Minnesota, the plaintiffs have asked for a summary ruling saying the lockout was illegal and players are entitled to damages. The league has asked for a one-week extension of that ruling, saying it needs more time to respond.

That said, the case could simply go away if an agreement on all outstanding issues is reached between players and teams, said the report.

All the while, the clock keeps ticking. The first regular season game between the New Orleans Saints and last year's Super Bowl champs, the Green Bay Packers, is scheduled for Sept. 8.

© 2010 Newsroom America.

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