As the summer goes on and the NFL Lockout continues I become more and more convinced that certain NFL insiders are perpetuating a "gloom and doom" scenario to drum up news for themselves so they can continue to have something to talk about during this lackluster offseason. Jason Whitlock called Profootballtalk.com and Mike Florio out on this via twitter a couple weeks ago and created quite a stir.
I respect Adam Schefter, Jason LaCanfora, Chris Mortenson, et. al. and understand they have many inside contacts within the NFL that allow them to report things before everyone else. Social media has accelerated this and I believed has created an "arms race" to be the first to break something, etc. Unfortunately there are little to no consequences for being wrong, and time after time these guys are wrong (particularly Peter King, but that's another story).
However, during the current labor negotiations it has been clear to me that both the players & owners have been feeding these insiders doom and gloom scenarios to further their agendas. All the NFL insiders report the same stuff within minutes of each other regarding the "progress" or lack thereof of CBA discussions.
Then, this past week, the owners and some player reps (including Goodell & Smith) attended "clandestine" meetings in Chicago, precluding the court mandated mediation that was scheduled next week. Amazingly, it has been reported that the first progress has been made all summer. Imagine that, throw the lawyers and media out of the situation and instantly progress is being made in the talks. I have stated all along that the sides will work something out when it comes down to it, and the June 3rd decision is about 50/50 at this point whether the courts will allow the lockout to continue or not, but it is clear that some powerful owners realize that it is time to get back into discussions and the players all along have stated that all they want to do is play.
I don't expect a deal done this month, but I think that the table is set for a CBA to be completed by late July/Early August, maybe with limited training camp and shortened preseason, but the regular season will go on as expected on Sept. 8th with the Packers hosting the Saints.
