Still hoping that the NFL and NFL Players Association will come to some sort of collective bargaining agreement before the current deal expires Thursday night, avoiding a lockout? Well, don’t expect a miracle.
New York Giants player rep Shaun O’Hara said as much Tuesday evening, saying that any deal done between now and Thursday night would be a "bad deal" for the players."
“Basically at this point we are heading for a lockout,” O’Hara said. "It is going to happen. I think we have been preparing for it. I am not worried about it and I don’t think the players are worried about it. It is not a surprise at this point.
“I think we are ready for it and prepared and I think we are OK with it as players because we realize that at this point in time, any deal that gets done over the next couple of days is probably going to be a bad deal for the players.”
Buffalo Bills safety George Wilson echoed O’Hara’s sentiment that a lockout is coming.
"Everything I’m telling my guys is: Prepare this Friday for the start of a lockout," Wilson said. "I certainly don’t believe a deal will be reached by Thursday midnight. That’s what I feel in my heart. I have not received any indication (from the union) that we’re close to a deal."
Giants owner John Mara joined the mediated talks on Wednesday, the first NFL owner to sit at the bargaining table since the session mediated by George Cohen began.
The biggest current news is the ruling be federal judge David Doty that NFL owners cannot use more than $4 billion in television revenue during the lockout.