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By HOWARD FENDRICH and BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writers

NFL owners met Thursday to discuss - and possibly vote on - a
tentative deal to end the lockout that began in March.


      "I'm optimistic that we'll get approval," Falcons owner Arthur
Blank said on his way into the session at a hotel near Atlanta's
airport. "My understanding is that the owners will have the
opportunity to ratify the agreement today, even if the players do
not approve it today."

      Commissioner Roger Goodell was at Thursday's session. The league
has said it hopes to have a final agreement with players ready for
ratification Thursday. At least 24 of 32 owners would need to OK
the deal. If it's passed by both sides, team executives would be
schooled later Thursday and Friday in Atlanta on the deal's
guidelines and how to apply them; topics would include the 2011 NFL
calendar, rookie salary system and new free agency rules.

      Players had been expected to vote Wednesday on a full proposal
to settle the labor dispute, but they did not.

      A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated
Press there was agreement among player representatives from all 32
clubs on what items needed to be resolved before any offer would be
accepted. A second person, also speaking on condition of anonymity
because the talks are supposed to be secret, said those players
gave what was termed "conditional approval" of the proposal - as
it stood Wednesday.

      Even after all acceptable terms are established, a deal would
lead to a collective bargaining agreement only if NFL Players
Association team reps recommend re-establishing the group as a
union, which must be approved by a majority vote of the 1,900
players. Those votes probably would be done by conference call.

      In March, when talks broke down and the old CBA expired, the
NFLPA said it was dissolving itself as a union and instead becoming
a trade association, a move that allowed Tom Brady and other
players to sue the league under antitrust law. Only a union can
sign off on a CBA.

      "We still have a lot of work to do," said Pro Bowl offensive
lineman Tyson Clabo, who played for the Atlanta Falcons last
season.

      After the owners' labor committee met Wednesday, NFL general
counsel Jeff Pash said the sides would keep talking in hopes of
finalizing a deal that is expected to last 10 years, although even
that was not 100 percent certain as of Wednesday evening.

      "It's obviously a complicated agreement, but I think both sides
are at the point where they can close, they should close, and we
should be in a position to take votes," said Pash, the owners'
lead negotiator.

      Remaining issues are believed to include how to set aside three
pending court cases: The players' antitrust lawsuit against the NFL
in federal court in Minnesota; the TV networks case, in which
players accused owners of setting up $4 billion in "lockout
insurance," money that the league would receive even if there were
no games played in 2011; and a collusion case, in which players
said owners conspired to restrict salaries last offseason.

      Ten players - including quarterbacks Brady, Peyton Manning and
Drew Brees, Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson and Patriots guard
Logan Mankins - filed their antitrust suit March 11. That was the
day the country's most popular sports league was thrown into limbo,
and the owners locked out players hours later.

      Also under discussion are how workman's compensation claims will
be resolved and the players' demand that the NFL turn over $320
million in unpaid benefits from the 2010 season. Because there was
no salary cap that season, the old CBA said NFL teams were not
required to pay those benefits.

      "I think that's the healthy outcome: to have a complete,
comprehensive, global agreement that settles all the disputes and
puts us on a path where we are going forward together as business
partners, the way it should be, rather that going forward with one
hand and fighting over something that should be in the past," Pash
said.

      If the four-month lockout - the NFL's first work stoppage since
1987 - is going to end in time to keep the preseason completely
intact, the players and owners almost certainly must ratify the
deal this week. The St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears are scheduled
to open the preseason Aug. 7 in the Hall of Fame game.

      Asked Wednesday night whether that exhibition game will be
played, Pash replied: "It would be pretty challenging."

      AP National Writer Paul Newberry, AP Sports Writer Charles Odum
and AP freelance writer Amy Jinkner-Lloyd in College Park, Ga.,
contributed to this to report.

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NFL owners met Thursday to discuss - and possibly vote on - a
tentative deal to end the lockout that began in March.


NFL owners meet to discuss - and maybe vote on - deal

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