The NFL and NFLPA reached their major goal on Friday, coming to terms on a seven-day extension to continue negotiating for a new collective-bargaining agreement, according to a highly respected player rep.
The player rep told NESN.com that this is the "best scenario to get a deal done. Hopefully a deal will come from this."
Curiously, the two sides will take the weekend off from mediation before resuming negotiations on Monday. They'll have until next Friday night to iron out a new CBA. Considering how much progress the two sides have made in recent days, there seems to be enough momentum to strike a new deal next week.
Two major issues still remain. The NFL and NFLPA must iron out the details of an 18-game regular season, and they've also got to make concessions on some key financial issues.
The two sides worked Friday for the sole purpose of reaching this seven-day extension, and their self-imposed deadline was at 5 p.m., when the players would have decertified with the intention of filing antitrust lawsuits. Therefore, it's a pretty good sign that they reached this agreement with about three hours to spare.
Next week's agreement won't be so easy, obviously, but at least the two sides have shown each other enough good faith to work toward the end result. If they didn't reach Friday's extension, the negotiations would have turned into a nasty, drawn-out battle that would have put the 2011 regular season in jeopardy.
While that could still happen, Friday's news displays a strong urgency to reach a new CBA.
