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Good news everybody, a lockout has been avoided temporarily. There's been an agreement to extend the negotiations until at least 4 PM EST on Friday, with the possibility of a further extension.
The NFL and NFL Players Association agreed Thursday to a 24-hour extension of the negotiating window for a new collective bargaining agreement, sources told NFL Network's Kara Henderson.
Momentum to approve the idea of "stopping the clock" built throughout Thursday as the sides met for over eight hours in front of federal mediator George Cohen.
The original expiration date for the current CBA had been 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday. Now the union's deadline to possibly decertify is 4 p.m. ET Friday, according to NFL Network's Albert Breer.
The 24-hour extension could very well lead to a longer extension, according to a league source.
Members of both sides remain holed up in meetings with the federal mediator working to get something done. Neither side has taken their ultimate weapon off the table yet - for the players that's decertification of the union, for the owners it's a lockout - but progress is being made, at least to put off a work stoppage temporarily.