With the NFL closing in on a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement, owners and players will return to the negotiating table in a mediation setting on Monday and Tuesday to settle a handful of unresolved issues, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. According to sources, the sides will meet in either New York or Washington D.C., and U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan could join them on either day. Before departing for an overseas vacation on July 9, Boylan ordered a mediation session in Minneapolis on Tuesday. It had appeared that the mediation session would be cancelled after the progress made in New York on Thursday and Friday, but sources say the hope is that mediation will nudge the two sides to a final agreement in time for the players to vote to recertify as a union and approve an agreement Wednesday. Under that scenario, the owners would ratify the new CBA on Thursday at the league meetings in Atlanta. According to sources, the two sides also could use Wednesday morning to finish their mediated negotiation session, if necessary. Read more: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6...yers-set-mediation-monday-tuesday-sources-say
