NFL faces possible lockout if no agreement reached

If the NFL owners and the players union aren't able to make an agreement by the end of today, there's a strong possibility that there will be no professional football games played this fall, according to CNN. 

The Player's Collective Bargaining Rights expire at midnight, marking the deadline for the dispute.

The conflict lies between the NFL owners and the NFL players. The NFL makes about $9 billion a year. The owners recieve $1 billion of those dollars off the top and the players receive about 60 percent of what's left. 

But now, the owners want at least $1 billion more dollars added to their salary, as well as an increase in regular season games to 18, as opposed to the 16 games currently played. But the number of overall games during the season would stay the same. There would just be fewer exhibition games, according to CNN.

Owners are also asking for a cap on rookie team member salaries, causing top draft picks to be denied a $50 million contract at the door. 

In the case that the owners and players don't come to an agreement today and there is in fact a lockout, there will be no contract between the players and their teams, no players will be signed and no trades would be made.

There would still be an NFL draft in April but players couldn't techinically sign with the team they're drafted to. The lockout would also prohibit off-season activities such as training camps and players would not receive their roster bonuses, which can sometimes add up to $200 million, according to CNN. 

If the lockout then continues into September when the regular season starts, players would not receive their regular paychecks, games would be cancelled and the NFL would lose a total of about $400 million in revenue a week.

Experts predict the federal mediator will push back the deadline for a week and a deal will be made in order to save this year's NFL season.