The eighth day of federally overseen mediation between the NFL and NFLPA commences today at 1:00pm ET in DC just 59 hours before the expiration of the CBA. The mediation is expected to continue tomorrow morning, before NFL execs depart for nearby Chantilly, Va., for an owners meeting. George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service, will again oversee the talks. While the two sides met for over 40 hours over seven consecutive days ending last Thursday, it does not appear to have bridged the gap.
Hovering over today’s talks are reports the union plans to decertify before the CBA expires, and a possible decision from a federal court on the so-called lockout insurance case. The union is trying to prevent the league from cashing in media fees during a lockout. So far, owners have not participated in the talks, so if one or more attends today’s session that will be sure to garner attention.
Barring a breakthrough or an extension of the deadline, the CBA expires at 11:59pm Thursday. It is unclear if the owners meeting that begins at 3:00pm tomorrow will stretch that far into the next day.
