NFL players and owners are expected to rejoin negotiations on Thursday, as the two sides continue to work together to try to get a new deal completed in time to avoid any delay in the 2011 NFL season.
The two sides committed to four days of meetings this week, the most intense week of talks in the last five weeks during which the two sides have been working together on a deal. The talks began on Tuesday with no players or owners in the room, as discussions were led by NFLPA executive director Demaurice Smith and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and their respective teams.
Smith and Goodell took a brief break to travel together to the NFLPA “Business of Football: Rookie Edition” in Florida to speak to the incoming rookies together. Smith invited Goodell to join the meeting, which was put on by the NFLPA after the NFL cancelled their traditional rookie event.
The pair left Florida Wednesday afternoon to rejoin the negotiations. “We felt it was important to be down here with the players,” Goodell said. “This is an important few days. We’re going to get back to work.”
Smith said after the event, “Both of us wanted to come out and tell you that we’re continuing to work hard. Both of us felt it was important to come down for this event. I’m thrilled that Roger could come down and talk to the rookies in a very good, direct way.”
With two more days to go this week before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, and less than a month left before the first teams are scheduled to start training camp, there’s a lot of work left to do.
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