Roger Goodell: Now is the time to save NFL from financial problems

DALLAS -- Sounding a new alarm about the urgency surrounding the NFL's soon-to-expire collective bargaining agreement, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell refused to rule out a lockout on Friday.

"We have not made any determination of what will happen on March 4," Goodell said of the date on which the CBA expires. "The ownership is completely focused on getting an
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By Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire
agreement."
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By Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire

Speaking at his annual state of the NFL address ahead of Super Bowl XLV, Goodell continued the week-long rhetoric from both the league and the NFL Players Association.

The next four weeks represent a "window of opportunity," Goodell said, to avoid potentially significant financial consequences to the NFL.

A day after NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith painted a bleak picture of the two sides being far apart, Goodell told both sides they need to act quickly.

"I think March 4 is a very critical date," Goodell said. "A lot of different strategies will take place if we're not successful."

Those strategies, he said, "will move us away from the negotiating table rather than toward the negotiating table."

Goodell called for both sides to have give-and-take to close their differences in how to split the NFL's multi-billion-dollar revenue generations, but would not reveal specifics of how they league might make concessions.

He reiterated his call for "intensive, round-the-clock negotiations to address the issue and find solutions."

The sides have a bargaining session scheduled for Saturday -- the first formal session since November -- with more to follow this month.