NFL: Roundup
Associated Press
New York — Less than two weeks before some training camps are scheduled to open, the NFL remains in labor limbo.
Lawyers for the two sides met Monday in New York to clarify language from previous discussions.
Several issues are close to resolution, the most significant being the split of total revenues between owners and players.
But snags involving a rookie wage scale, free agency rules and benefits for retired players have slowed the process.
While the league’s negotiators hope they can present a new collective bargaining agreement to all the owners at their July 21 meeting in Atlanta, not striking a deal before then figures to cause postponement of the start of training camps, and probably cancellation of the Hall of Fame game Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio.
The Rams and Bears are set to play in that game, and both teams planned to open training camp at the end of next week.
The NFL would need about a week to get the new deal ratified and in place, meaning teams couldn’t start signing free agents or draftees, make trades or begin workouts until the end of the month. That would jeopardize the first weekend of exhibitions, Aug. 11-15, at a cost of upward of $60 million in overall revenues.
Commissioner Roger Goodell and several owners will negotiate with NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and members of the players’ executive board today. Extensive negotiations last Thursday and Friday seemed promising, but the parties were unable to close the gap on the rookie wage scale — a subject that wasn’t nearly as contentious in earlier sessions.
Extra points
Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward had glassy, bloodshot eyes and failed field sobriety tests during a traffic stop in Atlanta that landed him a drunken driving charge, according to a police report.
Atlanta lawyer Andrew Ree on Saturday released a statement saying Ward, 35, was not impaired by alcohol while driving and cooperated fully with police. Ree said in an email Monday that he stands by the earlier statement and had no further comment.
… A Bakersfield, Calif., man killed by authorities outside a convenience store was a former Bengals player.
Kern County sheriff’s officials say David “Deacon” Turner , 56, was fatally shot early Sunday.
Turner, who played at San Diego State, was a running back for the Bengals from 1978-80.