No one knows how this labor negotiation is going to unfold except Gene Upshaw and Paul Tagliabue. Luckily it won't hurt the Packers one way or another because the team is $20 million under the salary cap. It may be a boon to the Packers if other teams are forced to cut players to get under the salary cap by Friday and then the Packers move quickly to sign quality free agents. Some players might want to act fast to find a new contract with so many free agents now available and so few teams able to spend because of the salary cap.

The most likely scenario is that the teams agree to a new revenue sharing agreement and the salary cap is substantially raised by Friday, which would mean the current $20 million of cap room really won't do the team much good because now everybody has cap room to spend on the remaining few quality free agents. With the losing 2005 season plus all the changes in the front office and all the talk about the retirement of QB Brett Favre, the Packers won't be a preferred new home for most free agents.