The Facts:
Following up on the ongoing story. ... With face-to-face negotiations between the principle figures involved in the NFL's labor fight scheduled to resume today in New York, many observers believe the end game to this messy, four-month test of wills and wallets has at last come into view. "I'd say that back in March, we weren't in the same stadium," said one league source of the players and owners. "But if you think of both sides as a team, now we're in the red zone, we're driving, we can see the goal line and we have momentum. But can we still screw it up? Absolutely. That's why tomorrow and Friday are big days, because it's back to the (negotiating) formula that's been most successful."
Reported by SI.com
Fantasy Football Diehards Line:
According to SI.com's Don Banks, the key negotiation sessions scheduled for today and Friday are expected to include only NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and five owners, as well as NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and five players. According to Banks, that's a very positive sign, because it's the six-on-six, face-to-face formula that has resulted in most of the progress that has been made in these talks. And no more weekend breaks are expected unless negotiations founder. Banks went on to advise readers that even though it has been presumed that the two sides would have to have a deal in place by July 15 in order to play the entire preseason schedule, it is now thought that only the Aug. 7 Hall of Fame Game between the Rams and Bears would have to be sacrificed if an agreement came together as late as July 22. Saving 64 of the league's 65-game preseason schedule would be considered a satisfactory success rate and would not severely dent the estimated $800 million of revenue that's at stake in the preseason. ... Stay tuned.
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