NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith opened a four-day labor discussion in Minnesota, then hopped on a plane to Florida to speak to rookies.

Players involved in labor negotiations with the NFL traveled to Minnesota on Monday, but not just to meet with their legal team. They are there for a fifth round of "secret talks" with the league, a source with knowledge of the situation said.

The NFL and players will resume talks this week as they try to reach a deal before the preseason is affected.

The NFL and players will return to the bargaining table this week for a fifth round of clandestine talks at an undisclosed location, with the NFL Players Association concurrently staging its replacement for the NFL's canceled rookie symposium -- entitled "The Business of Football: Rookie Edition" -- in Bradenton, Fla.

NFL owners and players wrapped up a fourth set of "secret" meetings Thursday, highlighted by a joint appearance from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, who both pledged a commitment to reach an agreement in time to start the 2011 season on schedule.

The NFL and players wrapped two days of talks in Maryland, and plan to meet again in the next week.

The positive nature of the most recent negotiations has the NFL and its players hoping for a deal within a month.

The NFL and players plan to return to the bargaining table next week and both parties have been maintaining communication in between the face-to-face meetings, another sign of the seriousness of these talks.

The NFL and players Wednesday concluded two days of what were described as "very serious talks," according to sources, in an attempt to build off last week's secret negotiations in suburban Chicago, and work toward a resolution to end the three-month-old lockout. The exact location of this set of talks remains unknown, though they are believed to have taken place in a Long Island, N.Y., hotel.

Lawyers for the NFL and its players met before a three-judge panel Friday at the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, with the judges considering the league's appeal of an injunction lifting the nearly three-month lockout.

The parties finished a three-day labor summit Thursday, leaving 'Boys owner Jerry Jones to say, "We're trying."

NFL, players take their fight to court

Members of the decertified NFL Players Association's executive committee sent a letter to Roger Goodell on Saturday, in response to the Commissioner's Thursday letter to all players that detailed the league's side of its final offer to the players.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association held their longest mediation session Tuesday, going 9½ hours.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association met for approximately four hours Monday in front of federal mediator George H. Cohen before calling it a day.

That was the word from league owners after they completed a three-hour meeting Wednesday in suburban D.C.

Owners and players meet again, and a league lawyer says the deadline for the CBA set to expire could be extended.

The NFL and NFL Players Association met for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in front of mediator George S. Cohen.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association are gathering before federal mediator George S. Cohen for a fourth straight day Monday, in an effort to forward labor negotiations in advance of the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement on March 3.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association met before federal mediator George S. Cohen for the third straight day on Sunday, in an effort to close the sizable gap in their labor negotiations in advance of the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement on March 3.