NFL Players & Owners get closer to a Deal

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) - NFL owners have been briefed on discussions for a new collective bargaining agreement that would net the players just under 50 percent of total revenues.  Next up: more talks with the players.  Several people with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that Commissioner Roger Goodell and his labor committee will meet with players association chief DeMaurice Smith on Wednesday and Thursday in Boston. The owners spent five hours Tuesday getting updated on various CBA issues. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are supposed to be confidential.  "We're going to meet with them soon and we're eager to accelerate the pace of the negotiations," said Jeff Pash, the league's chief negotiator.  One person told the AP that the players' share would approach the 50 percent the NFLPA has said it has received throughout the last decade. But the expense credits - about $1 billion last year - that the league takes off the top would disappear.  Also, there would no longer be "designated revenues" from which the players would share, the person said. Instead, the players would share from the entire pie, which they project will grow significantly over the course of the new CBA, which is expected to run anywhere from six to 10 years. So if they are taking 48 percent or more of a much higher revenue stream - without the initial NFL deduction for operating expenses - the players still would receive far more money than they got under the previous agreement.

The lockout began March 12. Training camps are scheduled to open in late July.  The person with knowledge of the negotiations said the players made economic concessions over the last three weeks of "secret" talks on both revenue percentage and on future stadium credits; many NFL teams have heavy debt for stadium construction.  "The next financial model is going to look more like a division of percentage of total revenues," the person said. "That is the context being discussed. It is a simpler mechanism to understand. You take away the 60 percent of defined gross revenues, take away the upfront expense credits that keep growing and now will be gone, it becomes easier to deal with the economics on a macro level."  Other items, such as a rookie wage scale and health benefits, have been discussed in those owner-player meetings, but won't be settled until the revenue split is determined, the person added.  Goodell said no discussions were held Tuesday on a potential full-season Thursday night TV package that could increase revenues. With record ratings last season, the NFL's value to its broadcast partners never has been higher.  Asked how close an agreement might be, neither Goodell nor Pash would put a timetable on it.  "I have no idea," Pash said. "We have to spend a significant amount of time with the players. There's a lot of work to be done for both parties. I don't think there's any way to say it's close or not close."