NFL Lockout Update: Small Group of Owners Holding Up Settlement Agreement

I've been trying to provide summary updates of what people are saying about the recent lockout settlement talks and the perceived progress being made and some interesting things have been stated this morning. Adam Schefter has reported earlier today that "an internal battle is percolating at some of the highest NFL circles in which some owners are resisting the labor deal they've been trying to negotiate with the players, according to multiple sources." This minority group of owners have been putting up a stink about what they perceive to be too many concessions being made to the players. 

Furthermore, per Schefter, they believe the parameters of the new settlement agreement being discussed don't "adequately address the original issues the league wanted corrected from the 2006 collective bargaining agreement, according to sources.

According to Schefter, and contrary to what all of us were hoping, "It is one of the primary reasons team officials are being prepped to stay an extra night in Chicago at Tuesday's owners meetings. It's not to potentially vote on a new collective bargaining agreement, as many suspected; it actually is to try to fend off some of the resistance that is mounting from a handful of NFL owners, according to sources." For much more detail on the subject go check out the rest of Schefter's piece at ESPN.com

Unfortunately, this news is something that's being confirmed from several respected sources, including NFL.com's Albert Breer, and The Sports Business Journal's Daniel Caplan.

Breer had this to say on his Twitter account this morning:

"Can confirm that the NFL is getting some resistance from within the ranks of the owners, as momentum builds in negotiations with players. In large part, the resisting owners are concerned about the economy tanking again, and getting protection in the case that it does.

Hope is the apparent owner "rift" is simply part of the ebb-and-flow of talks, w/major issues being dissected deeper than they have before. Again, folks ... one way or another, the idea there weren't going to be bumps along the way in this phase of talks was always ridiculous.

Something else to add: Rift wasn't wholly unexpected, isn't even necessarily new. But feeling is has be managed now, based on where we are.What else I can say is that owners who have outside businesses that are leading economic indicators see the concern with nat'l economy. But again, these could just be little bumps along the way. You should expect angst with so much on the line in these talks."

Breer is definitely worth following on Twitter for constant updates on the subject. He also added a column this morning on the subject, and noted,  "The small resisting group is worried about the possibility that the national economy could tank again, and is looking for protection that it didn't have in the collective bargaining agreement established in 2006. Based on economic indicators through their other businesses, some owners have grown increasingly nervous, and the deterioration in the stock market and growing unemployment rate have compounded that."

Daniel Caplan is a great source on Twitter as well; he stated this morning:

"Can confirm what ESPN is reporting that there are some NFL owners resisting the paramaters of framework deal. Reason why tuesday meeting may go long. Means there are owners who feel league is making too big a concession with possible deal."

I'll update when and if anything else comes of this "news." In reality, nothing has changed; these owners have been resistant the whole time. But, since there is this wave of optimism lately, this news certainly tempers the idea that everything is almost wrapped up.

As always, for up to the minute information, check out (and I'd recommend bookmarking) SBNation's continuing story stream on the NFL Lockout.