Smart players have prepared for it because while the league will still collect the $4 billion in network television money in the event of a work stoppage, the players will get nothing. They are paid in 17 installments over the course of the season. No games will mean no checks.
And that would be a harsh existence for many players, even if they have budgeted their money wisely.
"I'm pretty alarmed," Eagles veteran safety Quintin Mikell said last week. "It seems like every other week you have an owner saying they are going to get it done and you have the NFLPA saying it's going to get it done. Then you hear nothing. It's something that's definitely in the back of all of our minds. I don't really know anymore. I try to not think about it and just go play ball."
Mikell brought up the uncertainty of next season while speaking about how the Eagles need to seize the opportunities of this season. He described the up-and-down nature of the defense's effectiveness, and stressed the importance of bearing down for the stretch run in order to get to the playoffs and attain their ultimate goal, which is getting to the Super Bowl and winning it.
"I hope everyone's understanding that regardless of what happens next year or whatever, that it's about now," Mikell said. "Everybody's worried about the lockout and all that . . . but it's right now."
He is right, but the possibility of a work stoppage is unavoidable, and many Eagles players have been planning for the worst-case scenario.
Omar Gaither does that every year. He has been in the league five years, but has not been a regular starter at linebacker since 2008 and realizes that any game can cause a career-ending injury. So any season could be his last.
