Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reported yesterday afternoon that NFL labor negotiations are 80-85 percent complete.
One source with intimate knowledge of the discussions tells me negotiations are 80-85 percent complete. They've made such fast progress, I'm told, it's catching many of the principals by surprise. Some are now canceling vacations, believing an agreement will be reached within a matter of days.
Basically, it seems, we continue to move solidly into that threshold where a season will be played, not if one will be played. Again, barring the knucklehead factor.
"It's going to be very difficult for this to get screwed up," the source said.
This doesn't mean it's essentially a done deal, as there's always a chance negotiations could still blow up and grind right back to a halt. Freeman also notes that different proposals are exchanged daily between the two sides, which leads me to believe both sides are finally making the necessary concessions to get a deal in place.
However, the deal could be 99% finished and the big sticking point will still be what it was back in February and during the whole lockout process: How to split up the revenue.