The heads of each party in the NFL lockout dispute have been on the phone for over an hour trying to come to an agreement on a way to end the lockout. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith are staying in contact in case both sides approve the deal Thursday evening.
As we've noted, the players want to approve the settlement and then have the league re-open its doors while they begin the process of recertification. The league, however, wants the players to officially recertify as a union before lifting the lockout.
The owners are expected to be voting at some point on Thursday while the players have an 8:00 p.m. (ET) conference call on Thursday night. It's believed they'll approve the settlement at that point.
It seems as though the only major issue remaining is how recertification goes down. A deal will get done either way, it sounds like. It's just whether it will happen within hours or sometime next week.
With most training camps set to open next week, it's time for the two sides to find a compromise that results in the lifting of the lockout.