National Football League

Owners, players will meet on Monday

Published Jul. 8, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Hours after a federal appeals court ruling allowed NFL owners to continue their lockout of players, negotiations between the two sides broke off Friday after what was described as an “unproductive” afternoon session that clearly was affected by the league’s court victory earlier in the day.

NFL sources told FOXSports.com that the court’s ruling — an unexpected development that prompted NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith to conduct a mid-afternoon explanatory conference call with player representatives from all 32 teams — cast a pall over what had been a positive series of discussions toward a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

No face-to-face talks are scheduled over the weekend, and Smith said that negotiators will meet again on Monday. Owners and players are not expected to join the negotiating sessions until Tuesday at the earliest.

Attorneys from both sides reportedly will continue to talk Saturday and Sunday, hoping to draft contractual language that will speed the process toward drafting a new CBA once an agreement is reached.

The lack of face-to-face negotiations over the weekend have heightened the sense of urgency to formalize a deal done before July 15 – the deadline the NFL has set to avoid cancellation of the Hall of Fame preseason contest in Canton, Ohio, scheduled for Aug. 7.