The next time NFL owners meet over labor, there is hope it will be to ratify a collective-bargaining agreement with the players.
Don't get carried away thinking a deal is imminent. Optimism is in the air, but that doesn't mean the end of the lockout is at hand.
Owners were briefed Tuesday in Rosemont, Ill., on discussions for a CBA that would net the players just less than 50 percent of total revenues. Next: more talks with the players in the Boston area.
Several sources said that Commissioner Roger Goodell and his labor committee will meet with players' head DeMaurice Smith today and Thursday.
"We're going to meet with them soon and we're eager to accelerate the pace of the negotiations," league negotiator Jeff Pash said.
"We have a lot of work to do and we've got to do it right," Goodell said. "The agreement has to focus on several issues and the issues are complex."
One person said that the players' share would approach the 50 percent the NFLPA has said it has received throughout the last decade, but the expense credits - about $1 billion last year - that the league takes off the top would disappear.
Also, there no longer would be "designated revenues" from which the players would share, the person said. Instead, the players would share from the entire pie, which they project will grow significantly over the course of the new CBA, which is expected to run anywhere from six to 10 years. So if they are taking 48 percent or more of a higher revenue stream - without the initial deduction for operating expenses - the players still would receive far more money than previously.
A salary floor keeping teams within 90 percent of the cap also would be included. The players have been concerned that some teams with smaller revenue streams would try to hold down salary spending.
NFL news and notes, June 21
