RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – NFL players are hoping to be back on the training fields by the end of next month, a players association official said Wednesday.
Preseason training normally begins in July and although the players are still locked out because of the labor dispute, they remain hopeful a resolution can be reached.
“We don’t have a firm sense of cutoff dates because we don’t make the rules or set the schedule,” players association spokesman George Atallah told Reuters.
“The players’ hope is that the lockout is lifted in time for players to show up to camps on time.”
Under the terms of the league-imposed lockout, now in its third month, players are barred from contact with their teams so dozens of players are working out on their own in locations across the country.
Some owners have hinted that a new collective bargaining agreement would be needed by July 4 for a full schedule of activities, including training camps and preseason games, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league had a range of contingency plans in case there was no agreement.
DELAY COSTLY
Cancellation of the preseason could cost the NFL an estimated $1 billion.
At the urging of federal judges, talks between owners and
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