Faced With a Lockout, Players and Owners Are at Odds

The owners and NFLPA aren't getting along in regards to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement

On April 6, a Minneapolis judge will decide the fate of the the season for the NFL in 2012. As of now, the NFL faces a lockout because there is no new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), since the owners and NFL Players Association (NFLPA) failed to reach a consensus on numerous issues that need fixing. Many suspected that the two sides were close to completing a deal at the March 11 deadline, but sources indicated that in reality, they weren't even close.

Many different issues were the cause of failure by the two sides in making a new CBA, including revenue sharing, retirement benefits, proposal of an 18 game season, and rookie wage scales. Part of the real problem is the complete lack of trust between both sides, especially suspicions by the players that the owners are not complying because in the players opinion, it doesn't matter to the owners if there will be a season in 2012- they are already rich and face no financial consequences if a lockout happens.