According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, CBA negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA wrapped up after four hours on Wednesday.
Pelissero says a source described the meetings as “productive” and the plan is for both sides to review, regroup and then resume negotiations on July 29.
Talks had been originally scheduled to last three days from July 17-19. Per Josina Anderson, a source told her the sessions ended early because “there was information they needed to take back and discuss further with the other owners.”
Another source told Anderson some of the big topics are tabled for now, with a lot of work still to be done.
The NFL has reportedly set a goal of negotiating a new CBA before the start of the NFL regular season.
The current CBA is set to expire following the 2020 season. The NFL and NFLPA have had monthly negotiation meetings since April and the tenor around negotiations is much different than the last CBA talks in 2011 when the owners locked out the players.
This time, the NFL’s owners are motivated to get a deal done to not distract from the “NFL 100” marketing campaign and TV deal negotiations.
The owners also have a March 2020 deadline to agree to a new CBA before specific contract and salary cap rules kick in, including the lack of June 1 release designations and the ability of teams to use both the franchise and transition tags to keep players off the free-agent market.
Some issues expected to come up are an 18-game regular season or expanded 14-team playoffs, a reduced preseason, changes to the NFL’s marijuana policy and potentiall limiting commissioner Roger Goodell‘s authority in player discipline.
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