This past weekend Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal said on his twitter account that a new CBA could be struck in roughly two weeks. Now, Mark Maske of the Washington Post says that sources on both sides of the dispute say that a deal could be coming in 2 to 3 weeks. Optimism seems very high, but we all remember how talks fell apart between the two sides after they extended the original lockout deadline. Regardless, the courts may have made a brilliant move by scheduling hearings at the start of the NFL season.
Still, the public will be ultra-sensitive in the coming weeks. Every report from an anonymous source will be scrutinized to the fullest extent of human capability, and a timetable will always be just a guestimation.
The Great news is that it appears we will soon have football, and that's really all that matters in this whole debate. Granted, we all want a deal that'll maintain the current game (i.e. everyone still wants the draft), and I think that's what will come out of this situation.
As a guy that's been tuned into the NFL during the lockout, I'm impressed with the patience of the fans. You all have kept your heads and stuck with it, and that's what has made it bearable. Apparently, football could be just a few weeks away, and it would be a firestorm of happenings. A whole off-season may be packed into about a month to a month and a half of time, and it sure would be fun.