The NFL and the NFL players union continue negotiations today in Washington DC the day before the current collective bargaining agreement ends (12:00AM Friday Morning).
Some of the issues on the table is the owners desire to go to an 18 game regular season and enacting a rookie salary cap to limit what rookies can earn before they play a single down in the NFL.
Up until today it is apparent that very little progress has been made between the two sides and a lockout is all but certain.
According to Jim Trotter of SI.com, the NFL and the players union are now looking to extend the current deadline so an agreement on a new CBA can be agreed upon hopefully within the next week.
However, if the two sides are to extend the deadline it would seem that would have to be agreed on by 4PM ET.
Why?
The Players Association plans to de-certify its union by 4 p.m. Thursday if a new agreement isn’t in place. Trotter mentions that at that point the owners would be expected to shut their doors and cease operations at 12:01 a.m. Friday — in essence, locking out the players.
If the lockout were to happen the league would be opening itself up to numerous anti trust lawsuits which the players are prepared to file.
Source: SI.com