NFL, NFLPA Returning To Mediation; No Appeals Court Decision Yet

The NFL was scheduled today to return to the bargaining table in a Minnesota federal courtroom, with active and retired players present, but the prospects for those negotiations are fully uncertain. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to make a decision, after two weeks' time, on whether to lift the more than two-month-old lockout or keep it in place, an unexpected delay that many believe could keep the sides apart and make the two scheduled days of mediation, the first since mid-April, unproductive.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to be present for the mediation sessions, along with NFL Exec VP & General Counsel Jeff Pash; outside counsel Bob Batterman; and team owners Jerry Richardson, Art Rooney II, Mike Brown and John Mara. NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith is expected to attend for the players, along with class counsel Jeffrey Kessler and Jim Quinn, the outside counsel to the group of 10 players suing the NFL to lift the lockout.