Today has been a good day on the labor front between the NFL owners and NFL Player's Association.
We think at least.
The news kicked off on Thursday that league and the union had agreed to a mediator during negotiations. That doesn't necessarily mean the two sides are more likely to get a deal done but the optimist in me thought that it's a good start.
The good news continued when NFLPA spokesman George Atallah indicated on Twitter that the union was following a strict media blackout and wouldn't be talking about negotiations anymore. As a sports blogger writing stories every day, the negotiations that have gone in the media haven't been such a bad thing. But, as a football fan, negotiating in the media isn't the best way to get a deal done.
And now even more (potentially) good news. Pro Football Talk reports that the two sides have agreed to seven straight days of negotiations starting on Friday. Again, this isn't concrete evidence that a deal will get done but it's still good news, in my opinion.
In somewhat related news, NFL owners were previously scheduled to meet on March 3rd in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Reports now say that meeting has been moved to March 2nd at a hotel near Washington D.C. You know who else is based in D.C.? The union. The final day of the current CBA? March 3rd. Just sayin'.
Let's hope this is just the beginning of good news to come because if we wake up on March 4th, and there's not a deal done between these two sides, there's going to be a lot of pissed off football fans and it won't be the league or union that gets the blame, it'll be both.