Federal Mediation continues in Minneapolis today.

Today the NFL and the NFLPA will again resume mediation in Minneapolis. The sides have both been ordered to meet by judge Susan Nelson while she considers an injunction against the current lockout. Nelson heard the initial arguments April 6th and said she would need about two weeks to render a decision. She also order both sides back into negotiation with a federal mediator. This will be the third day of the meetings.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is set to attend, with top deputy Jeff Pashand team owners Jerry Richardson (Carolina), Pat Bowlen (Denver), Jerry Jones (Dallas) and Mark Murphy (Green Bay).

The NFLPA sent a team that included attorneys Jim Quinn, Barbara Berens and Tim Thorton plus players Ben Leber and Mike Vrabel.

DeMaurice Smith will not be in attendance because of a family emergency. Whether or not any progress gets made is uncertain and everything will obviously be done under the highest degree of secrecy. The players may be waiting for the ruling before they negotiate in earnest, or they may already be doing so knowing they have the backing of a player-friendly court. Either way, the ruling will be appealed and this thing will only get solved through negotiation. Roger Goodell is right in this instance. Things are only going to get tied up in the courts with appeals and all the bureaucracy that goes with federal hearings, until the two sides can negotiate and reach a mutual deal this thing won’t get done and the lockout will continue.