We knew that the lockout would affect some players in profound ways, but who knew it would result in one player robbing a casino? And a player who is just days away from appearing on the players’ behalf for Wednesday’s antirust lawsuit against the owners, no less?

ESPN.com is reporting that free agent Mike Vrabel was arrested for felony theft at an Indiana casino on Monday. He was booked at 5:28AM and was released at 10:39AM after posting $600 bail. The rest of the details are sparse, but the 35-year-old Vrabel has already released a statement through his agent:

“It was an unfortunate misunderstanding, and I take full responsibility for the miscommunication,” Vrabel told ProFootballTalk.com in a statement through his agent Neil Cornrich. “I feel comfortable that after talking with the appropriate parties, we will resolve this matter.”

I was being facetious with my “robbing a casino” comment in the first paragraph, but it is a rather humorous situation. Not for Vrabel of course, but for fans that have had to put up with daily reports about how the lockout will never end and how there will never be another football season ever. EVER.

Make no mistake: this is an embarrassing situation for Vrabel. He’s two days away from having to appear in court and he’s out getting arrested for felony theft. Even if it was just a huge misunderstanding, he was still arrested and he’s still one of the faces for the players during their ongoing battle against the owners. So in essence, it’s not just embarrassing for him but for all of the NFLPA as well.

According to ESPN’s John Clayton in his latest Q&A, the players wanted to return to the negotiating table on March 28, but the owners declined. Apparently the owners refuse to negotiate unless the players recertifiy as a union.

Q: I am a corporate attorney, and I have seen (and been part of) settlement negotiations while litigation is taking its course. Why can’t one or more attorneys for players (if not for the NFLPA, then for some of the named litigants) negotiate with the attorneys for the owners right now? At least in California, settlement negotiations cannot be used in trial, so I see no reason why negotiations could not be going on right now. In any event, isn’t the real problem the refusal of the owners to provide full financial information?

Ed in Aladena, Calif.

A: You are 100 percent correct. Lawyers for the owners refuse to meet with the settlement attorneys for the players unless the trade association identifies itself as a union, which the players won’t do at this time. The players, according to multiple sources, planned to meet with the owners March 28 and spend the week settling this mess. All that had to be done was have a short document go to federal judge Susan Nelson’s court saying that the NFLPA’s executive board would serve as advisors. The NFL’s answer was no. This will be the only way a deal can be reached. Like you, we all wish both sides would go to the bargaining table instead of the courts.

As a fan, it’s frustrating to hear that one side was ready to head back to the bargaining table and the other refused. The quickest way to a resolution is at the negotiating table – not in the courts.

But the owners must believe they have the leg up now that union-friendly Judge David S. Doty is not overseeing the players’ injunction hearing on April 6. As Rotoworld.com points out, if Judge Susan Nelson fails to grant the injunction, then the leverage swings heavily in the owners’ favor. So why would they return to the bargaining tables now? So that they can put an end to this charade and the fans can have a season next year? That’s not what the owners want. They want more money (and in the process, the players to have less of it), which is one of the many reasons why the NFL is currently in this mess.

The momentum has shifted several times over the past couple of months and it appears as though each side is waiting for the other to eventual crumble. Meanwhile, the fans continue to wait.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is reporting that Chad Pennington will need surgery after tearing his ACL in a pickup basketball on Thursday. Pennington, who is now a shoe-in to win the I’m the Unluckiest Bastard in the World award yet again this year, can probably put to rest any thoughts of another NFL comeback.

Now, if this were 2002 or even 2008, Pennington tearing his knee would be big news on its own. But with apologies to the Pennington family, it’s not now. The big news here is that a player just got seriously hurt during the lockout and for those in need of a reminder, the NFL stopped the players’ insurance the moment they locked them out.

Pennington seems like he’s on top of things so I would image he sought the advice of his union when it told him to make sure that he has insurance during the lockout. But there are 1,700-plus players in the NFL – what’s the chances that all 1,700-plus players acted swiftly and made sure they were covered as well? Don’t forget, we’re talking about 23, 24, 25-year-old kids here that think they’re invincible. How many of them are rolling the dice right now thinking they don’t have to have insurance, or who have put the task off hoping the lockout will end soon?

Maybe Pennington’s injury will serve as a wake up call for those that ignored the union’s letters and e-mails about attaining insurance. Freak injuries happen all the time and you know Pennington isn’t the only athlete playing pickup basketball, or hiking, or skiing, or whatever this offseason.

And thinking on an even grander scale, maybe Pennington’s injury will encourage the NFLPA to get back to the bargaining table and put an end to this CBA mess so that the NFL can start providing players with insurance again.

The latest scuttlebutt out of the NFL labor non-negotiation negotiations is the idea of a “pegged” cap, which was reportedly brought up by the players. A pegged cap is a stable salary cap that is based on revenue projections and goes up at a set amount each season. The last CBA had a salary cap based on actual annual revenue that could go up or down each year depending on which way the wind was blowing.

Why does this matter?

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio explains…

If the actual numbers come in lower, the players still get paid. One major area of dispute has arisen from the question of whether and to what extent the actual performance exceeds the projected revenue growth. The owners’ offer of March 11 omitted that wrinkle; the players want to share in the upside.

The players, we’re told, prefer a “pegged cap” approach to expense credits because it entails simpler auditing and fewer disputes.

I’m on the players’ side in this debate, but if they are getting guaranteed pay no matter how the league is actually doing, then they can’t really demand a substantial share of the upside. If they have no downside, why should they get considerable upside?

Of course, it all depends on the projections used to create the pegged cap. If they’re conservative, and revenue is very likely to be greater, then the players do deserve a share. If the projections are aggressive, then the players should be happy they have stable salaries with no downside and forget about trying to get a piece of the additional revenue.

Florio continues…

As of right now, the two sides are $10 million apart per team on the the “pegged cap” approach, which is driven by projected revenues. The owners have offered $141 million per team in salary and benefits, and the players have requested $151 million. If they can bridge the gap and devise a procedure for handling any excess growth, they should be able to do a deal fairly quickly.

Well, that’s awfully optimistic given the current status of the negotiations, which are at a standstill. The two sides need to get talking again, but that is unlikely since they’re waiting on the courts to decide the fate of the lockout.

Tick-tock, people! (Don’t they know I have fantasy football rankings to put together?)

A pair of updates on the NFL labor situation:

– Even though the owners and NFLPA will due battle in court over the validity of the lockout on April 6, a source tells ESPN’s Adam Schefter that no one should expect a ruling by mid-April.

This news is the final dagger in the hopes that free agency would start before the draft. Now teams can almost expect to make selections not knowing whether or not they’ll be able to re-sign their own free agents (or what free agents are interested in joining their team). Now more than ever it’s paramount that a team has a good general manager and scouting department in place. (In other words, yes, you’re screwed Bengal fans.)

– In separate but somewhat related news, the NFLPA has decided to schedule its draft parties so that they won’t conflict with selections made April 28-30. Originally, the NFLPA was threatening (for lack of a better word) to hold parties during the draft to discourage prospects from shaking commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand on stage at Radio City Music Hall.

Good for the NFLPA. These prospects deserve to have their moment on stage with Goodell, even if it means they’ll be whisked away to lockout land immediately after they snap that photo on stage. Eventually there will be a new CBA in place. Eventually there will be a season. Eventually this bloody mess will have a resolution. In the meantime, it’s nice to know that top prospects can still have their moment on draft day. I might be looking at the situation wrong, but to me this is also a sign of good faith by the NFLPA.