nflpa

It's on to the next step for the NFL and its players, who are getting closer to a full-fledged collective bargaining agreement.

"The NFL and NFLPA staffs have been working for the past few days on the final details of the new CBA," league spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Saturday.

Spare us the rhetoric and the explanations of what went wrong. The NFL and NFLPA were always headed down the road that will assure the most possible damage, writes Don Banks.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the NFL and NFLPA have reached a basic compromise on a rookie wage scale that will replace the current rookie salary cap.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and union head DeMaurice Smith have arrived for the first negotiating session involving a federal mediator.

Every year, the week before the Super Bowl is flush with juicy stories of strip clubs, players gallivanting on the streets of their hosted city, lots of rumors about potential free agents, the victims of the franchise tag, and a little bit of hype about the upcoming draft.

Kevin Mawae, president of the NFL Players Association, is retiring from the NFL after 16 seasons and eight Pro Bowls.

Mawae has called a news conference for Friday afternoon, and a news release posted on the NFLPA's website Friday morning said he will be announcing his retirement.

"It's a time of reflection for me just to think that I (had) the privilege of playing in the NFL,"...

It seems that the NFLPA is doing a terrible job in its negotiations with the NFL's owners. First, it seems kind of weird that it is the NFLPA that is doing all the talking about a lockout.

The owners want a better deal, where they do not have to surrender 59% of football revenues to the players.

New York Giants Co-owner John Mara, risking a significant fine from the league for talking about the negotiations, has come out to voice his concern over the lack of progress between the league and the NFLPA.

In his mind the league made the players union a proposal in November, and has yet to hear a valid counter proposal.

While the two sides fight this one out, we head towards an uncapped 2010 season, and some form of work stoppage in 2011.

Both of those things are bad for both sides, so it is a little troubling that these tow sides cannot see that for themselves.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NFL Players Association has confirmed it is the target of a federal investigation into whether union leaders attempted to collude with NFL officials by holding a secret meeting to discuss labor talks.

A federal judge in Minneapolis has denied a request by the NFL players' union to put five player suspensions on hold while their case is appealed.

Union attorney Jeffrey Kessler says the judge's decision doesn't necessarily mean the players will miss any games because an appellate court could rule before the season starts.