It was the least they could do.
You know, negotiate.
It doesn't matter who thinks who is right. It doesn't matter who thinks who is wrong. NFL owners and players just have to get a deal done.
The sides have retreated to their neutral corners after agreeing Friday to extend a deadline to reach a new collective bargaining agreement until midnight next Friday. But they are certain to come out swinging again next week.
The weekend respite — no talks are scheduled until Monday — provides another opportunity for reflection, and hopefully common sense will prevail.
When a judge ruled that owners can't have $4 billion in TV revenue if the season is lost because of a lockout, the owners lost a huge bargaining chip.
It led to a one-day extension Thursday, which led to a seven-day extension, which leads to optimism and hope.
Is it too much to ask both sides not to settle for a deal two months from now if they can get the same deal now?
Maybe that is asking too much, considering the negotiating strategy being applied by the owners could be likened to a vise grip.
Your boss invites you to lunch. But instead of picking up the check, he makes you pay.
While awaiting your meal, your boss tells you what a good employee you are and how he wishes he had 10 more just like you.
You're almost ready to forgive him when he announces that you have to work seven days a week instead of five. And take a pay cut.
That's the equivalent of owners negotiating to extend the regular season from 16 to 18 games while asking the union for a financial giveback because ... well, just because.
The owners don't need the extra money. But they've convinced themselves that they do.
The players aren't backing down. Instead, they've ramped up the pressure.
It starts with leadership. Union chief DeMaurice Smith is doing what people believed couldn't be done.
He spent a lot of time early in his tenure unifying his constituency. Players no longer hold it against him that he didn't play in the league.
Smith's ability to convince high-profile quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees to agree to be plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the league if the union decides to decertify was a stroke a genius.
Players are reluctant to attach their names to anything that could be construed as being negative or counterproductive — Brady and Manning, in particular. Their participation was vital and unexpected.
It delivered a forceful message to owners that the union won't buckle.
Besides, how would it look for owners to be embroiled in a legal battle with three of the most successful and popular players in NFL history?
Bad PR for the owners. Brilliant strategy by the union.
Advantage, players.
Owners have always been the richest people in the room. They take the biggest risks, so they deserve the biggest bite of the apple. But when is enough finally enough?
Owners want players to give up more money than they already do. In return, owners want players to play two more games.
Who can blame the players for folding their arms and refusing to budge?
It's also difficult to swallow the argument that owners, who asked for and received $1 billion from players in the last deal, now need $2 billion off the top to construct new stadiums and renovate old ones — some of them built with public funds.
Your tax dollars at work.
Maybe not in cities like Cincinnati, where the county owns Paul Brown Stadium. Under terms of the lease with the Bengals, the county must pay $43 million for repairs and upgrades over the next 10 years, repairs the Bengals say are needed. Of course, the county can't fund improvements if games aren't played because of a lockout.
No games, no revenue.
No sense.
NFL owners have met the enemy — themselves.
