MINNEAPOLIS - The negotiating teams led by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and players' association chief DeMaurice Smith are back for more talks after a 15-hour bargaining session that lasted until the early hours of Friday morning.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan is overseeing the process and said the sides would resume negotiations at 8 a.m. local time, only about six hours after they ended their last session.
Smith was seen entering the office building where talks are being held shortly before the planned start of the latest discussions. Staffers and players including Jeff Saturday of the Indianapolis Colts and Brian Waters of the Kansas City Chiefs joined him.
As they were Thursday, the owners were being represented by Goodell, John Mara of the New York Giants, Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots.
Friday marks the fourth straight day of negotiations between the two sides. The lockout began March 12, with the central issue being how to split revenues for the US$9 billion business.
