The NFL owners early opt out of their labor agreement with the players is one of the best things that could happen to the process. That isn't to say that this won't be a long and arduous fight between the players, who believe they deserve their rightful share of the pie, and the league, which has some legitimate financial concerns with small market franchises lagging behind the big boys, but timing was a key element here.
"This is actually fine," NFL Players Association chief Gene Upshaw told me today. "We knew [the opt out] was coming. You don't want it happening in November, in the middle of the football season. Now we're on the clock and hopefully this will help us get close to an agreement [before the contract expires in 2011]."
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