News on the NFL lockout is somewhat hard to come by these days because neither side is officially talking to the media. On Friday, after the two sides had agreed to a one-week extension, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith addressed the media but didn't give any specifics on where they stood in negotiations, at the request of the federal mediator, George Cohen.
So the last update we had was that Friday when the deadline was extended. The two sides spent the weekend strategizing on their next move within their own camps. On Monday morning, both teams will be traveling to resume the talks and by Monday afternoon negotiations are expected to take place.
The good news is that the two sides are talking and it appears there's at least some momentum to getting a deal done. Reports have indicated that an extension of this length likely means a new deal is coming. There are a lot of different issues and, because of the media blackout, we don't really know where they stand on those key issues.
It's believed the biggest issue is how to split the $9 billion revenue and the last we heard they were far off on that one. That said, we're hoping the federal mediator can bring some sense into the argument and find a middle ground.
As we stand now, we're five days away from the end of the NFL as we know it or five days away from a new deal. Let's hope it's the latter.