Update: NFL players lockout

A ruling on the NFL owners' improper use of strike insurance is expected this month. Associated Press, reporting on the special master hearing NFL union's complaint, says  

Stephen Burbank is expected to rule on the issue this month, with both sides allowed to appeal.

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reports that former Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce is suggesting a strike.

Pierce, via his Twitter account, floated the "what if" idea of players refusing to start this weekend's playoff games on time as a way to gain leverage over ownership. He called it "just food for thought" and later insisted he wasn't urging action.
The NFL took him seriously enough, though, that it issued a lengthy rebuttal on its labor-related website, where it reminded Pierce and current players that "a 'walk out' is in violation of the CBA." George Atallah, spokesman for the players union, later Tweeted that the union has "already guaranteed no strike."

Meanwhile, Business Insider reported that Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson is  “not optimistic” about labor talks.  He said the players are asking for "more money and less work."
Sports Illustrated writer Jim Trotter took issue with Richardson on his Facebook page:

My issue with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson is not that he said something about the labor situation on Tuesday. It's that he did not say enough.

It's serves no purpose to say that union lawyers are asking for more money, more benefits and less work unless you're willing to state exactly how much more they're seeking in money and benefits, not to mention how much they want to decrease their workload -- if indeed those things are true.
Fact is, the owners are the ones demanding rollbacks. They're the ones who opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement in 2008, two years after ratifying it. They believe they're being asked to shoulder too much of the financial risk to grow the game.
I have said -- and continue to say -- if the NFL is hurting, just show us where. The proof is in the fine print.

Sign a petition to prevent the lockout at nfllockout.com.

Oh, and did we mention that the Teamsters have a long and storied history with the NFL Players Association, and that Hall of Famer Jim Brown once handed out cards to form a Teamsters affiliate?