NFL Players will define mediation goals today in talks with the league, according to ESPN reporting.  The Players' Association and the NFL have several unresolved issues remaining as they try to finalize a collective bargaining agreement projected to last ten years.  The agreement cannot be ratified until a final resolution is reached on the few issues that still represent an impasse between labor and management.

Players Define Mediation Objectives for Past and Future

Some of the players' demands relate to past actions on the part of the league.  Specifically, the players are asking that $320 million be restored to them.  The sum represents benefits lost during the 2010 season.  Another issue from the past that still lingers is the Brady antitrust lawsuit, still ongoing; players are asking that the case, which involves ten named plaintiffs, be settled.  

Issues that impact the future include a players' demand that unrestricted free agents be allowed some amount of use of the tag for their franchise.

Not all of the unresolved issues originate with the players' association.  Owners have demands as well; one of them is that contracts specify that players can only file workman's compensation insurance claims in the same state where their injury occurred.  Players prefer the flexibility of being able to file claims in other states, including their home state.

Further workplace mediation will take place this week.  Judge Arthur Boylan will preside over the sessions.