An internal battle is percolating at some of the highest NFL circles in which some owners are resisting the labor deal they've been trying to negotiate with the players, according to multiple sources.
A handful of NFL owners -- at least two of whom are from AFC teams -- believes the parameters of the deal being discussed don't adequately address the original issues the league wanted corrected from the 2006 collective bargaining agreement, according to sources.
It is one of the primary reasons team officials are being prepped to stay an extra night in Chicago at Tuesday's owners' meetings. It's not to potentially vote on a new collective bargaining agreement, as many suspected; it actually is to try to fend off some of the resistance that is mounting, according to sources.
Some of this resistance has caused the NFL to adjust its schedule next week, moving up the time of Tuesday's meeting, with the possibility of staying until Wednesday. The league is bracing for internal negotiations and lobbying that will impact how soon football could return.
The surprise is that many thought this kind of pushback to a deal would occur within the players' ranks, not among NFL owners.
In reality, the resistance has been there since March, when commissioner Roger Goodell was authorized in a vote of the owners to offer and negotiate whatever he thought was best for the league.
After the players decertified, owners were briefed on Goodell's offer, and some believed it was too one-sided in favor of the players and not strong enough for the teams. Those teams never changed their feelings, and recently they have made this known directly to Goodell, according to a source.
Now that the two sides have begun to make some significant strides within the past week, some owners are pushing back against the deal again, according to sources.
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