NFL and NFLPA agree to extend negotiations

The NFL will not lockout at 12 midnight Thursday after all, but that does not mean the 2011 season is safe by any means.

The NFL and NFLPA has agreed to extend negotations on a new CBA to 11:59 Friday night, so, that if the two sides still can't come up with a deal over the next 24 hours, then a lockout is still possible.

The players were set to sign decertification papers which would have liquidated the player's union, thus pressuring the NFL owners to cancel any plans of a lockout because the players would have gained the ability to sue the NFL on an individual player basis according to anti-trust law. Instead, with this short extension, the players will not decertify and remain united for 24 hours anyway.

The extension of 24 hours is actually a good sign. It shows that the sides must be making enough progress that both can feel all they need is 24 hours to hammer out a new deal and avoid a work stoppage.

If the lockout does indeed happen, it will cripple America's most popular sport, not to mention destroy American businesses from bars to beer companies, to car compaines, advertisers, television and radio companies, the NFL teams themselves, public relations, and newspapers. People will suffer greatly, and I don't mean the inability to just sit on a couch to watch the game.