Arthur Blank thinks deal gets done today

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank predicted that a new collective bargaining agreement could get hammered out as soon as today.

“Yes, I think so” Blank told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’d be disappointed, like 330 million people in America, if it didn’t get done today.”

According to Blank, there's unlikely to be any surprises today from his owner colleagues.

“There’s been wonderful communication between the labor committee (which is made up of) eight owners, commissioner, league staff, our counsel, everybody in that room,” Blank said. ”So, there won’t be any surprises from an ownership perspective.”

Here's a curveball, though. The NFL Players Association has yet to vote on ratifying the deal.

“Hopefully, the players have gotten through their issues last night and will be in position to do their ratification this morning or today,” Blank said. “I don’t know what the timing of that is. I do know, I’ve read the same things you all have read, and that’s our general counsel (Jeff Pash) has said that the owners could ratify the deal first if necessary and then have the players approve it. It’s not what we expected, but if that’s the process, that’s the process.”

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Aaron Wilson covers the Ravens for the Carroll County Times.