ESPN delivers the news that will make players, fans and pretty much the entire Internet happy:
The NFL and the NFL Referees Association made enough progress in negotiations Tuesday night that the possibility of the locked-out officials returning in time to work this week’s games has been discussed, according to sources on both sides.
An agreement in principle is at hand, according to one source familiar to talks, although NFL owners have postured with a “no more compromise” stance.
Update 1:25 p.m.: Sports Illustrated’s Peter King isn’t so sure. He just tweeted: “I’m hearing NFLRA negotiator Scott Green has notified officials that a deal is not imminent. Stay tuned, obviously.”
At this point it’s probably a good idea to remind ourselves that when it comes to negotiations of this kind, no deal is official until both sides have signed on the dotted lines.
