Sal Paol: Negotiations to Continue Through Tonight, Breakthrough Progress Made

[DaCityKats]

whoa ghey?

[thefuzz]

Been saying it for a while, the players aren't going to come out of this like they had hoped.

The owners will get a CBA that is better than the last one.

[Snake]

Been saying it for a while, the players aren't going to come out of this like they had hoped.

The owners will get a CBA that is better than the last one.

This will also set the tone for future negotiations. Basically its going to make both side negotiate because nether wants to go threw this mess again.

[countryboi]

This will also set the tone for future negotiations. Basically its going to make both side negotiate because nether wants to go threw this mess again.

it looks as if what ever side loses legally is royally fuged in future negotiations also....matter fact this will have a huge effect on the NBA CBA negotiations also cause dont think they are not watching this very closely.

[mav1234]

mediation ended without an agreement.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The court-ordered mediation between the NFL and its locked-out players ended early Tuesday afternoon but the league's lead negotiator said progress is continuing to be made in mediation.

The sides will resume talks June 7 just days after a June 3 hearing in a federal appeals court regarding a lower court's ruling that temporarily lifted the lockout.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6559848&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

I guess yesterday's excitement was premature. I'm astonished.

[teeray]

So correct me if I am wrong, there are now two proposals the players haven't responded to??

I may actually be on the players side if you break down the different things on the negotiating table... but DeMaurice Smith makes it very hard to pull for them to win.

At this point I am just pulling for football to be played.

[DaCityKats]

biggest waste of time.

[mav1234]

So correct me if I am wrong, there are now two proposals the players haven't responded to??

I may actually be on the players side if you break down the different things on the negotiating table... but DeMaurice Smith makes it very hard to pull for them to win.

At this point I am just pulling for football to be played.

Mawae has responded publicly... kind of... http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/17/kevin-mawae-says-two-sides-are-no-closer-to-deal-than-in-march/

[panthers55]

The players just don't get it. As long as the 8th circuit appeals court continues to be the most conservative court in the country, the owners are going to win every time. The players keep wanting a 50/50 split and frankly that isn't going to happen. They need to face that reality and try ans negotiate to get the best deal they can at this point realizing they are going to give up something. From what I can tell the huge issue is that the owners want a hard cap with set increases not tied to increases in revenue. The players want the cap tied to revenue. That is going to be the focus of the negotiations from here on out.

But if the players keep refusing to negotiate the owners will start taking more things back until the players have a worse deal than they were handed in the last proposal. When one side holds all the leverage you have to accept the realities and make the best of it. The players don't seem to be doing that at all. It reminds me of an investor who buys a stock only to see it go down and realizes that it is not going to come back, but instead of selling it and getting what he can, he holds onto it refusing to sell them because it isn't fair and doesn't want to take a loss so he watches them decline until eventually he is forced to sell them anyway. Only by holding on he gets a worse deal than if he faced reality and made the best of it to begin with.

[teeray]

Mawae has responded publicly... kind of... http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/17/kevin-mawae-says-two-sides-are-no-closer-to-deal-than-in-march/

Thanks! When I said respond I meant they didn't counter or even pretend to be interested in negotiating. For the rest of my thoughts read Panther55's post :)

[mav1234]

I know what you meant, I just figured I'd share the only "response" I've heard since the whole "second worst deal in sports" or whatever the quote was.

[panthers55]

I know what you meant, I just figured I'd share the only "response" I've heard since the whole "second worst deal in sports" or whatever the quote was.

I think that Smith sold the players a bill of good convincing them that they would win through litigation, now that it appears he was wrong it will take the players some time to readjust their expectations and face the new realities. Hopefully he advises them to negotiate a settlement instead of continuing to try and litigate further. Unfortunately lawyers litigate not negotiate so unless the players take this over and begin to ignore him, they are going to go from the second worse deal in sports to the absolute worse deal in sports. Like the Gambler, you have to know when to hold them and when to fold them.

[DaveThePanther2008]

I think that Smith sold the players a bill of good convincing them that they would win through litigation, now that it appears he was wrong it will take the players some time to readjust their expectations and face the new realities. Hopefully he advises them to negotiate a settlement instead of continuing to try and litigate further. Unfortunately lawyers litigate not negotiate so unless the players take this over and begin to ignore him, they are going to go from the second worse deal in sports to the absolute worse deal in sports. Like the Gambler, you have to know when to hold them and when to fold them.

I believe D. Smith had full intentions of shutting football down. Get a chance to make a name for himself (good or bad) I don't believe for one second he has the best interest of the player in his focus.

Now that he is getting slapped in the face I believe he will try and get the Union **cough cough** Association to continue to fight a losing battle and shut football down for 2011. D. Smith will go down in history as the MAN who shut football down. He'll write a book reap millions off of it.

[mav1234]

I don't think Smith has any intention of shutting down football, but I am beginning to wonder if he and the people in charge of the PA believe they can completely change the NFL now that it's in court. Some players would benefit from removal of structures like FA restrictions, the draft, etc.