CHANTILLY, Va. — The NFL’s muddled labor situation didn’t get any clearer yesterday.
After a ninth fruitless day of mediated talks with the players in nearby Washington, the owners met here very briefly before scattering without a lockout vote or a request for an extension before tonight’s 11:59 “soft” deadline.
Although another round of negotiations with a federal mediator will take place today, indications last night were that the owners plan to forge ahead with a lockout despite a strengthening of the players’ hand in recent days.
That lockout could come as soon as tonight, when the existing collective bargaining agreement is set to expire, but the union’s reported plan to decertify this afternoon could throw a wrench into the owners’ plan.
If the players are able to obtain an injunction after decertifying, the owners would be forced to lift the lockout and play games without a new CBA while the battle plays out in court.
That scenario or a sudden agreement on a new CBA would be the best-case scenario for the players and fans, of course, but the sides are still thought to be far apart on the main sticking points — the players’ share of total revenue, an 18-game season and a rookie wage scale.
Asked if he expected a lockout as soon as tonight, Colts owner Jim Irsay said: “I don’t know. These things change. I don’t want to make a prediction.”
Jets owner Woody Johnson and several of his peers, all speaking after they were briefed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, said they were guardedly optimistic about a new deal but didn’t provide specifics.
“Ultimately, something will happen,” Johnson said. “Whether it happens today or tomorrow, I’m not sure. Hopefully it will.”
But the owners’ actions appeared to speak a lot louder than their words last night. All of them bolted northern Virginia less than seven hours after they arrived, including Giants co-owner John Mara and the other nine members of the ownership negotiating committee who attended yesterday’s mediation session.
The sight of the owners fleeing en masse (except for Mara) didn’t exactly leave much hope for today’s potentially last-ditch negotiating session with federal mediator George Cohen.
The owners pointing to the absence of a lockout vote yesterday as a positive sign also rang hollow. That’s because they already have authorized their bargaining committee to call for a lockout without a full vote of all 32 teams.
Cohen has clamped down on comments from both sides, but the players didn’t appear optimistic that a lockout — the league’s third work stoppage since 1982 — could be avoided.
The union was buoyed this week by a federal judge’s ruling against the league that likely will prevent the owners from using nearly $5 billion in TV money as “lockout insurance,” but the players seem resigned that a lockout can’t be stopped in the short term.
bhubbuch@nypost.com