It’s still early on in the negotiations, but it appears that the talks between the players’ union and the NFL about a new CBA agreement are not all that hunky-dory. NFLPA prez Kevin Mawae, who also snaps the ball to Vince Young, painted a cloudy picture in a recent interview at the Pro Bowl:

“They [the owners] want 20 percent give-backs,” Mawae said following the AFC Pro Bowl practice. “It’s about 20 percent and the word is they’ve asked the players to give it back in forms of salaries. We’ve offered suggestions to help out with the rookie deal and giving cost credits back on any new revenue generating streams over the several years but it keeps coming back to, ‘if you don’t give us 20 percent back, we can’t get a deal done.’ “

I failed economics, so I don’t know what all that mumbo jumbo means. Luckily, Mawae simplified his comments for dummies like me:

“They’re asking for 20 percent back and we’re not going to give them 20 percent back, so I think we’re a long ways away. We’re probably about 80 yards away from each other, so I’d say we’re both on (opposite) 10-yard lines.”

Ah, I get it. It’s as if the owners are on one ten-yard line, and the players are on the other. Makes total sense. Now all they need is a quarterback who can throw eighty yards to bring the two sides together. Then there will peace and harmony and much rejoicing.

I’m sure it’s much more complex than that, but if I think about this any longer I fear my head might shatter into a thousand little pieces.