The NFL and NFLPA have still not reached a new labor agreement, but a couple of things have become clear. The NFLPA will not accept an 18-game regular season, and there will be an adjustment to the rookie wage scale.
"First of all, the league has never presented a formal proposal for 18 games," Smith told SI.com. "But more importantly, it's something that our players don't want. Eighteen games is not in the best interest of our players' safety, so we're not doing it."
The two sides have apparently agreed to the parameters of a revised rookie wage scale. The biggest change there will be shorter limits on the lengths of contracts rookies can sign, allowing them to get to free agency sooner.
The two sides still have not agreed on how to redistribute league revenue between players and owners. The current deadline is Friday, so now we wait to see if either an agreement can be reached or another extension put in place to avoid a lockout.