According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, the teams for both sides are meeting today and in "deal making mode".

Filed to ESPN: NFL owners and players' negotiating teams are meeting today in Wash DC area. Both sides in deal-making mode.

Now, what exactly does "deal making mode" mean? I have no idea. I do know however, that it sounds like a very, very good thing. There has been an increasing number of sourced reports from well respected and plugged-in NFL writers that a deal is very close to being done. It would seem this report harbors even more credence to that belief, especially on top of Adam Schefter's report earlier that owners could potentially be voting on a new deal next week. It's entirely possible that parameters for a new deal could be drawn up and in place for an owner vote in the middle of next week.

It smells like football.