Reports today, including one from ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen, have suggested that talks between the NFL and the NFLPA have intensified, as the two sides attempt to implement HGH testing and revamp the league’s current drug policy. However, NFLPA president Eric Winston has issued a statement cautioning that there’s still work to be done.
“Players who have been to any collective bargaining negotiation understand that we never describe them as ‘very close,'” Winston said. “We look at every issue we can to improve the rights and benefits of players. This process takes time, it takes creativity and it is never easy. We want to get a new agreement in place but we understand the responsibility we have to the players and to the game. It is critical that we get this right.”
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Ted Thompson’s new contract with the Packers should keep him with the team well into his mid-60s. Rapoport reports that the deal, which was signed in July, is a three-year pact that runs through 2018.
- Meanwhile, Peter King takes an in-depth look at Thompson in a piece for TheMMQB.com, which includes the Packers GM discussing the team’s signing of Julius Peppers.
- Although a report on Wednesday suggested that the City of Oakland is closing in on an agreement for a new stadium for the Raiders, San Antonio is “still in conversations” to move the Raiders to Texas, city manager Sheryl Sculley tells Josh Baugh and Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
- During the 48-hour window between when the Saints cut him and re-signed him, Robert Meachem received inquiries from other teams, but he says he knew the call from New Orleans was coming, tweets Sean Fazende of FOX 8 Sports.
- Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com explains why the 49ers saw $8MM in cap space disappear this week, as the cap calculations for the 2014 season started taking into account teams’ full rosters rather than just their top 51 highest-paid players.