NFL Lockout: Negotiations Start Back Up, With ‘Legacy Fund’ In Contention

NFL players and owners will continue negotiating to try to end the NFL Lockout in New York on Tuesday, ESPN reports. While last week’s negotiations didn’t go particularly smoothly, ESPN now says that the two sides are a bit closer to an agreement, as the owners have agreed to give players 46 percent of revenues. We’ll see whether that’s satisfactory for the players - the players were reportedly upset last week when the owners “reneged” on a stipulation that the players would receive 48 percent of revenues.

The two sides are also arguing over a “legacy fund”:

One of the league’s first proposals to the players called for the establishment of a new legacy fund for retired players, which would include $82 million contributed by the owners over the next two years.

[Players Association leader DeMaurice] Smith’s idea, which the NFL agreed to, called for the league to share the funding with the players on a 50-50 basis. But the union lawyers backed away and said the owners should fund Smith’s idea with no effect on the cap -- meaning no player contribution.

We’ll see how this plays out this week. At this point, though, the two sides will need to get cracking if the NFL is to have a full slate of preseason games. It’s important to the owners that they do, since the preseason is a major source of revenue for the league.