Albert Breer describes negotiations during the NFL Lockout on Thursday. It sounds like an exhausting day, as talks continued from the morning until 10:30 at night.
The owners and players will return to the bargaining table Friday at 9 a.m. The possibility of continuing talks through the weekend exists, although that hasn’t been decided. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, who’s overseeing the talks, is scheduled to begin vacation Saturday.
The possibility that Boylan might not participate if talks go into the weekend exists, but two sources said that alone doesn’t make Friday’s meeting more vital, citing preseason revenue as the primary motivation to quickly reach a settlement.
Meanwhile, a court ruling on Friday ruled that the NFL Lockout is a legal one, but suggested that the two sides had better get moving on resolving it, or the situation could get really nasty. Breer has done a good job boiling the ruling down at his Twitter page. Also, here’s a news article at ESPN regarding the ruling. It doesn’t sound like it will change much. Negotiations will continue, and the players and the owners have released a joint statement saying that’s what they want to happen. The fact that the two sides are releasing a joint statement might be taken as a positive, however.
For more on the NFL Lockout, follow this storystream at SBNation.com.