If the extension to the CBA can't get done, then what?

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Normally, I don't share anything that profootballtalk.com says. Their site's "inside scoops" are about as reliable as Pinto. But, given the seriousness of the issue, I thought I'd relay the following "article" on the site. It reports as follows:
CBA "IS GONNA GET DONE"

A league source tells us that an extension to the Collective Bargaining Agreement "is gonna get done" in the near future, and that the start of free agency will be delayed by "a week or so" so that this year's class of free agents will hit the market under the terms of the new labor deal.

As it currently stands, free agency is set to begin on Friday, March 3. Because 2006 is the last capped year under the existing CBA, various provisions of the contract between the NFL and the player's union would make it much harder for teams to navigate the salary cap in signing new players.

There has been plenty of gloom-and-doom rhetoric of late from NFL executive director Gene Upshaw regarding the status of the talks, even though we've continued to hear that progress was being made. An industry source (who apparently was right on the money) told us on Friday that, in his opinion, Upshaw and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue have been working together to put pressure on the owners to resolve their differences regarding the proposed expansion of local revenues that are not currently shared.

The NFLPA has insisted on the inclusion of such monies in the funding of the league-wide salary cap. But if the local revenues aren't shared, the salary cap for the low-earning teams would be artificially inflated by the local income of the big-money teams.

Though no specifics as to the terms of the coming CBA and possibly expanded revenue sharing are available, it's looking stronger than ever than something will happen soon.