REPORT: NFL negotiations are trending "backwards"

So much for all that good will and happiness that was supposidly going on in the NFL.

When the owners agreed to divey up a contract that would pay the players far less than what they were making the previous five seasons in the revenue stream, you had to figure that a quick resolution was too good to be true.

Well, as it turns out the players are upset yet again.

"Players calculate that under the owners' proposal, it would leave them with approximately with a 45 percent take on revenue, an "unacceptable" amount that one player source said "sets us back to March 11 ... before the lockout"(ESPN).

Apparently...

"Player sources contend the owners' terms changed when the two sides convened a day after owners met June 21 in Chicago. A source said the players went into Thursday's negotiating session with owners at the table, hoping to "get them back on track. They wouldn't move. It's disappointing"(ESPN).

So here we go again. While players and owners are supposed to meet yet again in Minneapolis today, chances are the self imposed deadline by some of the owners to have a deal in place by July 5 is looking pretty bleak.

The players feel they are being screwed by the owners and they certainly are. 48 percent of revenue, no matter how you slice was going to be a hit to the players bank books. Add on top of that the calculations by the owners (i.e. a tax) the players are making only 45 percent. That is a whopping eight percent less than they were making over a year ago.

Don't expect a resolution any time soon.

Mid to late July is now all we can hope for to have this CBA settled. It is comical in a way, considering the NFL has the longest off-season (seven months) of any sport in the country, and yet they can't come to terms on anything.

The first preseason game is a month away, and training camp is schedule to start in two and a half weeks! Say good bye to all of that if these two sides can't agree on a 50/50 split of the pie.