NFL talks heat up but no deal yet

Associated Press

NEW YORK

With time running short to keep the NFL’s preseason intact, owners and players got into another long round of labor talks Thursday, trying to break the impasse that has kept the league shut down for four months.

Each group turned out in force for the latest negotiations at a Manhattan law firm, and for the second straight day discussions stretched into the evening.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and eight of the 10 members of the owners’ labor committee were present, including Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and John Mara of the New York Giants. Two new participants were Green Bay Packers CEO Mark Murphy and San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos.

NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith and a half-dozen current or former players also were there, including Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, Baltimore Ravens defensive back Domonique Foxworth, and Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora. Umenyiora is one of 10 player plaintiffs in a federal antitrust lawsuit against the league.

The NFL locked out players in March, after negotiations broke down and the old collective bargaining agreement expired, and now the preseason is fast approaching. With each passing day, the need to arrive at a deal to end the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987 becomes greater.

The Hall of Fame game that opens the exhibition season is scheduled for Aug. 7 between the St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears, who hope to be able to start training camp at the end of next week. Yet camps will not open without a new CBA in place.

Talks gained steam in May, overseen by a court-appointed mediator, U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, who is on vacation this week. The owners have a special meeting set for next Thursday in Atlanta, where they potentially could ratify a new deal .

Even once an agreement in principle on the core economic issues is drawn up, there will be more work to be done. That’s because there are certain issues that won’t be addressed in full until after the NFLPA re-establishes itself as a union — a process that might take a couple of days — and can then serve once again as a collective bargaining unit for the players.

Items that could fall under that umbrella include the league’s drug-testing program, health insurance, retired players’ pensions and other benefits, none of which is likely to be resolved completely while the union is still dissolved.