Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller and lawyers for retired NFL players are meeting with representatives of owners and current players at a New York law firm for talks aimed at ending the lockout.
The court-appointed mediator, U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, is also at Tuesday's session, as the sides attempt to close a deal to resolve the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987.
Judge Arthur Boylan, the court-appointed mediator in the NFL labor talks, arrives to the meetings in New York, Monday, July 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Owners are set to be in Atlanta on Thursday, when they could ratify a new agreement — if there is one in place. Executives from all 32 teams then would be briefed there Thursday and Friday on how the terms would affect league business.
Still, legal maneuvers continued in case of an unlikely collapse in negotiations.
In what the players said was strictly a procedural move, they filed for a motion of summary judgment with the district court in Minneapolis, asking that the owners’ lockout be declared illegal under antitrust law and that the court declare that the N.F.L. had breached player contracts for 2011.
Atallah said that the move was made only because Monday was the deadline for such a filing and the players had to protect their position in case a settlement was not reached.
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