The NFL and the NFLPA “made enough progress this week that they decided yesterday to widen the negotiations in Minneapolis to include numerous owners and players,” according to Bart Hubbuch of the N.Y. POST. The “secretive talks … had been expected to feature just NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, union chief DeMaurice Smith and their attorneys while in Minnesota, but that changed late yesterday.” It is “not known exactly which owners and players would join the talks today and tomorrow,” but a source said that Giants President & CEO John Mara is “sure to be present.” Hubbuch notes Fox Sports last night reported that Smith “had told a group of ‘elite’ players that a deal wasn’t as close as widely reported.” A league source said that Smith was “trying to temper expectations” (N.Y. POST, 6/30). In the FOXSPORTS.com report, Jay Glazer notes Smith “held an under-the-radar conference call Tuesday to update many of the league’s most prolific stars on the status of labor negotiations.” Perhaps the “most important thing to emerge from the talks so far” was that “while saying he was optimistic because the two sides were continuing to negotiate, Smith painted a different picture than that of a collective bargaining agreement being reached as soon as this weekend.” Smith began the call by saying that “recent reports by certain news outlets were way off.” He told players they “still haven’t gotten a good enough offer from the owners to bring to them just yet.” However, league sources “remain optimistic that a deal can be worked out in time to allow training camps to begin on schedule.” Glazer notes optimism that a new CBA was “within reach heightened this week as Goodell and Smith appeared together and spoke at the NFLPA rookie symposium” in Sarasota, Fla., yesterday (FOXSPORTS.com, 6/30).
TARGETING THE IDES OF JULY: Agent Joel Turner said that he was “told by a person familiar with the negotiations that the goal is for the deal to be official by July 15.” He added that it is his “understanding that the free agency period would begin July 18, with a 48-hour signing period for undrafted free agents to follow.” Veteran free agents “would go on the market July 20.” Turner added the two sides "don’t want to go past July 4th” in terms of reaching an agreement in principle “because they don’t want to have the judges come back from their July 4th vacations to rule on this” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/30). YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote the sides "have until July 15 to reach a deal and not have any noticeable, tangible impact on the season." That would "allow a frenzied 8-10 day free-agent period before" the Bears and Rams "have to start camp" in advance of the Aug. 7 Hall of Fame Game between the two teams. The other 30 teams "would begin training camp about a week later" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/29). YAHOO SPORTS' Doug Farrar wrote, "It's becoming pretty clear that everyone realizes the urgency in getting a deal done as soon as possible" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/29). However, USA TODAY's Gary Graves wrote this week's meetings in Minneapolis should not be seen as a "sign that a deal could be reached before the holiday weekend." Graves: "If anything, the urgency linking these separate events has more to do with preserving the NFL calendar than observing the chronological one" (USA TODAY, 6/30).
SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: NFL.com's Albert Breer reported the sides have "spent the past four weeks largely discussing the revenue split." The talks involve "not just the revenue now, but also how to account for the league's future growth, particularly when the 2014 television deals are done, in the players' take." The idea "of an 'all revenue' model, which would eliminate cost credits to the owners and limit revenue projections, has bridged some differences, but the issue still hasn't been settled." Breer also noted the numbers "aren't the only issue" in regard to the rookie salary system. Finding a "way to replace the market effect those contracts have on veterans and getting high draft picks to free agency quicker are among the players' concerns" (NFL.com, 6/29).
STANDING TOGETHER: In L.A., Sam Farmer writes Goodell and Smith jointly appearing together at the rookie symposium yesterday was a "scene that would have been unimaginable in the toxic aftermath" of the NFLPA's decertification and the "ensuing lockout by club owners." Farmer: "If there isn't a growing peace, both sides are doing an awfully good job of faking it." Goodell said that it was "'a great opportunity' to meet with the rookies but didn't go into detail about the ongoing negotiations, which are scheduled to continue in Minnesota through Friday." Goodell: "We're taking a break because we felt it was important to be down here with the players" (L.A. TIMES, 6/30). In N.Y., Hank Gola writes the symbolism of Goodell and Smith appearing together "is obvious, with the scheduled start of training camps just over a month away." It "marks the second time in as many weeks they have appeared side-by-side in public" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/30). In Chicago, Sean Jensen wrote it was a "gesture of goodwill from Smith and Goodell," though it "doesn't mean a deal is necessarily imminent" (SUNTIMES.com, 6/29). Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, Stephen Holder reported Smith and Goodell yesterday also "made a surprise appearance" at the Buccaneers' "player-organized minicamp." It was an "awkward moment, to say the least, with Goodell coming into contact with the very players impacted" by the lockout. Goodell "wasn't exactly jeered, but some players made it a point to avoid contact." Buccaneers DT Gerald McCoy "took a little heat from his teammates after embracing Goodell with a hug" (TAMPABAY.com, 6/29).
MEDIA MATTERS: In DC, Dan Daly writes while reports have "taken to calling it the longest labor impasse in NFL history," it is "hard to look at it that way ... when it hasn't affected the playing of a single game." If a settlement is reached "in the next few weeks, the dispute will be looked upon, in the decades ahead, as largely bloodless (aside from the suffering of club employees who were laid off)." Daly: "Seven games, remember, were lost in the 1982 strike, and one was sacrificed in the '87 walkout. And that's not counting the three replacement games we had to suffer through in '87" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/30). Meanwhile, CBSSPORTS.com's Mike Freeman wrote the "spinning in this labor dispute has become remarkable." Freeman: "We're all being used in the media. ... To scare the other side. Or tell them what one side is really thinking. The players want the owners to not be fooled into believing they're pushovers, so here comes leaks from secret meetings. The owners want to push a few player buttons so they state it isn't close even though it likely is." Freeman added, "This is so strange we're now debating what the definition of close is. ... One man's close is another man's non-close. Executives in both the NFL and NFLPA have told me a deal is close. And it is. But to others, there is no such thing as close because there is either a deal or no deal" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/29).
