Updated: June 30, 2011, 6:12 PM ET
Optimism is waning after four consecutive days of negotiations concluded Thursday between NFL owners and players and was described as trending "backwards," player sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.
Player sources said owners have reneged on a simplified formula that would have given players 48 percent of all revenue.
Player sources reaffirmed that a setback in talks occurred when owners last week went "retro" on the formula that will divide the estimated $9.3 billion in annual revenue. Whereas the players believed the two sides had reached an understanding on a simplified formula in which they would receive 48 percent of all revenue, sources say owners re-introduced its previous formual by asking for $400 million-to-$500 million in expenses credits off the top.
Players calculate that under the owners' proposal, it would leave them with approximately with a 45 percent take on revenue, an "unacceptable" amount that one player source said "sets us back to March 11 ... before the lockout."
A management source said the owners have not reneged on any revenue split, claiming "it's a negotiation, which is always subject to change"
Player sources contend the owners' terms changed when the two sides convened a day after owners met June 21 in Chicago. A source said the players went into Thursday's negotiating session with owners at the table, hoping to "get them back on track. They wouldn't move. It's disappointing."
Indianapolis Colts veteran center Jeff Saturday was spearheading a conference call Thursday afternoon with player leadership after talks concluded.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith were joined by U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan and a handful of owners -- John Mara of the New York Giants, Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots -- and players including Saturday, Brian Waters of the Chiefs and Domonique Foxworth of the Baltimore Ravens at a Minneapolis law firm for Thursday's talks.
The latest round of negotiations between the two sides -- the fifth since they began hopping from city to city for clandestine meetings -- kicked off Tuesday with Goodell, Smith, their attorneys and staffs.
This location is significant because Minneapolis is where the players have filed a still-pending federal antitrust suit against the owners. The two sides met here for six days of court-ordered mediation under Boylan in April and May.
NFL Labor Negotiations and Lockout
The July 4 holiday weekend has been floated by some of the members of their respective parties as a rough target for a deal, and that time has nearly arrived.
Owners and players are seeking a deal that would divide revenues for the $9 billion business -- the biggest hurdle to clear -- and guide league activities for years to come.
Goodell and Smith took questions from rookies at an orientation in Sarasota, Fla., Wednesday, but they didn't offer specifics.
Smith invited Goodell to the orientation symposium for NFL rookies -- put on by the players' association after the NFL canceled the event -- and the pair flew to Florida on Tuesday night. After a joint breakfast Wednesday, they talked for an hour with 155 rookies before returning to Minnesota.
Smith and Goodell certainly seem closer than when the lockout began March 12 and the hope is that it leads to a new deal soon. Training camps are scheduled to open in three weeks with the Hall of Fame exhibition game on Aug. 7.
Since players don't get their regular paychecks until the regular season and revenue for the league revolves heavily around Sunday games, the financial urgency arguably hasn't arrived.
Rookies need to start learning their playbooks, though, and teams need free agency to arrange their rosters. Plus, a 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel is still weighing a final decision on the legality of the lockout.
Information from ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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