With the calendar approaching July, and urgency heightened, NFL owners began meeting this morning at 10 a.m. in suburban Chicago not far from O'Hare Airport.
With so much at stake and a lot to be discussed with owners that haven't been intimately involved in the three weeks of negotiations with the players that began May 31, the league's labor committee, commissioner Roger Goodell and league attorneys met for about two hours Monday afternoon in advance of today's meeting.
League counsel Jeff Pash and outside attorney Bob Batterman were present. Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen are the co-chairs of the labor committee.
Others from the committee in attendance were Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Green Bay Packers chief executive officer Mark Murphy, Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, New York Giants owner John Mara, Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney and San Diego Chargers president Dean Spanos.
This meeting, which could spill into Wednesday, is seen as critical for Goodell and the league as negotiations proceed toward an agreement hopefully by mid-July at the latest.
One owner told Yahoo! Sports, "There's a lot on the line. I don't envy Roger's position because he has to make a lot of people happy. I think there's enough common sense out there that we'll get something done, but there are also some (owners) who still want to fight."
Another owner said. "Your first reaction to most deals is to poke holes in it. It's human nature. You always want the perfect deal, everything to go your way, and you have to think it through to figure out what's acceptable. In this case, you have to multiply that process by 32 … when we sit down and look over this deal, I'm curious how the room is going to react. We're at a critical stage."
Pash told NFL Network, "We're giving the clubs a briefing on the status of the labor discussions. And we'll allow them to ask any questions, give them a legal update on the status of the various court actions, and just make sure they fully understand everything that's happened over the last month and make sure they're fully informed as we proceed through the end of this month and into July.
"They get a chance to ask questions, and more importantly, they get a chance to talk to each other and hear from other owners. I think that's always valuable. It's at least leaving here with the same information. People will have different views on things, I think that's inevitable. But at least they'll have common information."
It is believed after the meetings end, whether it's late Tuesday or Wednesday, more secret talks will occur with the players beginning on either Wednesday or Thursday.
