According to many sources deeply involved with the ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement discussions, both the NFL owners and the NFLPA have agreed to extend their talks for another week. They will resume discussions on Monday, taking the weekend to mull over possibilities to present to mediator George Cohen. It is believed by many that they will in fact be able to get a new CBA in place within this new timeframe.
Unfortunately, this time has been created for CBA talks only. No teams may continue to sign players or extend their contracts. All and any player transactions are prohibited from occurring until the new CBA is concrete. This is not what Arizona Cardinals fans wanted to hear, as we are still hoping for Pro-Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to sign an extension with the team.
What the new deadline does provide for fans is a sense of hope. The two sides are seemingly coming out of their defensive stances and willing to give up some of what they wanted in order to avoid a lockout. All signs are pointing towards a full season of football in 2011, but maybe I am being too optimistic.
I am under the belief that they will get this new CBA done in the next week, but we will have to wait and see.