The NFL and the NFLPA* have concluded this week’s round of talks. Though no deal is imminent — and despite the fact that the talks nearly blew up on Tuesday — progress continues to be made.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees, a member of the union-turned-trade-association’s Executive Committee who hasn’t been involved in recent talks, told the Associated Press that “things are moving in the right direction, which is very positive.”
“It’s what we always hoped for as players because we’re getting to crunch time here,” Brees added. “I think the gap is being narrowed in a lot of different areas.”
The time required to close the remaining gap remains unknown. Adam Schefter of ESPN, citing an unnamed source, reported on Wednesday that it would be “borderline insane” to suggest that the deal could be done in two weeks. Later in the day, Schefter agreed with a tweet from Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe that the deal could be done in three weeks.
In the grand scheme of things, seven days isn’t all that much time to go from “borderline insane” to “done deal.” Thus, I’m sticking with my guess that the deal will be announced on June 30, the Thursday before the Fourth of July weekend.
Of course, June 30 is only two weeks from today. I guess that makes me “borderline insane.” As if anyone needed further confirmation.
