Posted by Josh Katzowitz and Will Brinson

Will already told you about the NFLPA’s letter to Judge Susan Nelson requesting federally-mandated mediation.

The NFL has responded saying it wants mediation as well. Except it wants George Cohen and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington to head it up – the same place where the two sides bargained but ultimately failed before the owners imposed a lockout.

The NFL’s letter goes on to say that the players would not compromise their legal position in the Brady v NFL case if they went back to Washington.

That’s according to NFL.com’s Albert Breer, whose source says, “We sent a letter earlier today to the players' attorneys proposing negotiations with owner involvement. The goal of the discussions would be to resolve all outstanding issues between the parties and achieve a global resolution."

The difference here is that if the two sides negotiated with Nelson as the mediator, it would be binding. If they bargained in front of Cohen, though, it wouldn’t be. The owners also want to be involved in the negotiations, which is why they want to go back to Washington.

This is a pretty wily PR move, honestly, because the players have pointed out that Nelson wants mediation monitored by the federal court. The NFL would prefer to get the focus of this matter shifted away from the court room and back to the "collective bargaining table" (you may have heard someone mention this phrase in the past week or so).

However, given that Judge Nelson stated in her courtroom that she wanted the two sides to mediate under her watch, it seems rather unlikely that the players will budge.

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