NFL Lockout: With a Seven-Day Extension, the End Is in Sight

After reaching an agreement on a 24-hour extension Thursday, NFL.com confirms that the NFL and NFLPA have agreed to a seven-day extension starting Friday.

As for football in 2011? The sky may have just stopped falling, Chicken Little.

You want it, I want it, and now it seems the players and the owners want it bad enough to hammer it out and get this thing done.

It's hard to believe that the two sides would agree on an extension unless the end were in sight.

In case your head is spinning from the cavalcade of negotiations, decisions and rulings over the past few days, here's a summary:

The players and owners met for a week of mediated meetings. There was no reason for optimism.

Judge Doty ruled that the owners were essentially cheating by sneaking the money from 2011 TV deals into their pockets.

A 24-hour extension on Thursday granted the two sides a small cushion in working out the deal. Today's seven-day extension severely widens that window.

Jason La Canfora tweeted this afternoon, "[The] sides will take [the] weekend to meet and talk within their own camps and mediation resumes Monday. Next Friday will be a big day in NFL history."

There's plenty at stake, as we all know with issues such as a rookie wage scale, retirement benefits and an 18-game season. The heart and soul of the debate, though, is by what percentage to divide up the revenue, and how much the owners will get "off the top" from the total revenue.

Which raises the question: Is this just posturing, or is this for real?

Let's put it this way: If the two sides can't reach an agreement with the extra week, they'll both have a lot of explaining to do. Only this time, they won't be explaining their side of the argument to the other side.

They'll be explaining their greed to the fans.

The NFL and NFLPA may be negotiating in a court of law, but the court of public opinion may be the one that pushes the two sides to get a deal done sooner than later.