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Slowly but surely, the negotiations over the CBA are making progress. The latest step is the players have agreed to a 10-day extension instead of letting the labor agreement expire today at 4 PM EST. The hold up? The owners have yet to agree, and the NFLPA plans to decertify this afternoon if the owners do not agree to the extension.
The NFL Players Association informed the league during Thursday's bargaining session that it would begin the decertification process on Friday, according to sources, unless the league agreed to a 10-day extension of the talks.
Friday's 24-hour extension was, in essence, to allow Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's lawyers sufficient time to determine if the owners were willing to push the deadline back and "stop the clock" on the collective bargaining agreement for a longer period of time.
The NFL gathered with mediator George H. Cohen on Friday morning to discuss terms of an extension of talks that would allow for an additional 10 days of negotiation before the expiration of the current CBA.
Sources for the players have said that progress is being made in the negotiations, thus allowing them to agree to the 10-day extension.
A union source told NFL Network's Albert Breer on Friday morning that "we've made more real activity in the last 24-48 hours than we did in two years." A second union source acknowledged the forward motion, but emphasized that major issues remain in the negotiation.
The ball is now in the owner's court.