NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith says if there's a lockout in 2011, the blame will rest on the owners. He told The Dan Patrick Show that the claim that he wants to force a lockout is "probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard" and that the owners want players to take $1 billion less without providing any information on the actual financial status of the league. Smith added: "Although we continue to talk and I'm still hopeful that we get a deal done, (the owners) remain firm on a $1 billion giveback and the only thing we have heard from them since April in a constructive way is that they want the players to play two extra regular-season games. ... The National Football League over the last two years has done nothing but prepare for this lockout. This is not a work stoppage. This is a lockout." The current collective bargaining agreement between the NFLPA and the NFL would expire in March of 2011 should there be no extension. Source: USAToday
