Judge Nelson Needs “A Couple Weeks” Before Making Ruling

According to Albert Breer of the NFL Network, the hearing taking place in St. Paul, Minnesota involving the NFL and the NFL Players Association has wrapped up. Breer reports that U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson said that she will take the case “under advisement” and that “a couple of weeks” will be needed before she will issue a ruling.

As Mr. Breer points out, whichever side gets the ruling that goes in their favor will have much more leverage when it comes to reaching a new collective bargaining agreement. More importantly, he says that Judge Nelson has insisted the two sides get back to the negotiating table over these next couple of weeks.

According to Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe, who has done a terrific job today or giving updates on the hearing, reports Judge Nelson said that “This is a matter that should be resolved” and that “A lot of folks are impacted.” Earlier in the day, Bedard reported that Judge Nelson brought up mediation “a few times” and wondered why both sides were not taking part in mediation right now.

As for what these means for fans, they should hope that the two sides take Judge Nelson’s advice and start up negotiations again. While something should get done sooner or later, we will most likely see the losing side appeal the ruling and that in itself could be a long process that possibly could stretch into August. We’ll be sure to update anything of note in the next two weeks between the two sides and Judge Nelson reviews the case.