DeMaurice Smith has been re-elected as executive director of the NFLPA, but the length of his term has yet to be determined, NFLPA president Eric Winston tells PFT. It was initially reported that Smith’s deal would automatically go through 2021 if re-elected. Instead, it could be a three-year extension. 
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The league’s current labor deal goes through March 2021, meaning that a three-year deal would have him exiting at the same time. That’s probably not a practical scenario, so a term taking him through 2023 probably makes more sense. The union plans to decide on Smith’s contract by March 2018.
Now that Smith has defeated lawyer Cyrus Mehri to retain his position, the NFL says it’s eager to get going on CBA talks.
“This is something we think is in both parties’ interest,” league spokesman Joe Lockhart said (link). “It’s certainly not our view that a work stoppage is inevitable. There’s no reason for that. It’s not in the interests of the game.”
In the past, Smith has indicated that a work stoppage at the end of the current CBA is something of an inevitability. Hopefully, both sides will be able to get what they want without a strike or lockout.