The tenor of the NFL's labor negotiations has one of the league's most highly esteemed player representatives optimistic about the outcome.
The owners and players have conducted three sets of semi-secret meetings over the last three weeks, and an agreement could come in short order.
"Two to three weeks ago, I was very pessimistic," the player rep told NESN.com. "Now, I'm very optimistic about getting into training camp on time, getting the teams set with free agency and having a full preseason and regular season. It's definitely a good sign that they're meeting without information getting leaked through the media. When that happens, you know they're serious about the dialogue in the room and working hard to get something done."
Every NFL team has one player rep designated to work with the league and Players Association on business matters, as well as keep his teammates apprised of important issues. For instance, when the two sides were negotiating in February and March, the NFLPA conducted routine conference calls with the player reps who relayed the information to their teammates.
This player rep has not had a direct hand in the negotiations but has been aware of the situation at hand. Still, he said the most pertinent information has stayed within the walls of the negotiating room, and he believed that was a great sign for the progress of the discussions. He said it was a bad sign as early as a month ago when the two sides spent so much time airing their grievances through the media. Now that it's halted, it is good news for all involved.
The player rep said "it's no secret" revenue sharing is still the main hurdle for the two sides to overcome and, "once the major pieces drop, I think the rest can come together quickly."
And while many have pointed toward July 15 as a deadline for constructing a new collective bargaining agreement in order to have a full preseason, the player rep didn't think that was a hard date, noting the two sides have gotten more eager to talk because they know they're inching closer to losing significant amounts of money in the lockout.
Lastly, it's another "very positive" sign that the two sides have welcomed the lawyers back into the negotiating room. He believed it was an obvious indication the lawyers are present to add the formalities to the legal documents.
"I thought it was a good move to get the lawyers out of the room for the negotiations. Now that they've brought them back in, they can iron out the wording and the details of everything."
