MINNEAPOLIS — A federal magistrate ordered the NFL and the NFL Players Association into settlement negotiations Monday in their fight over Adrian Peterson's suspension.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Janie Mayeron set a settlement conference for Aug. 13. That is the same day U.S. District Judge David Doty has scheduled a hearing on the NFLPA's contempt-of-court motion against the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell, for not complying with Doty's order to send Peterson's disciplinary matter back to the NFL arbitrator.
The hearing in Doty's chambers was delayed until after the settlement conference, union spokesman George Atallah said. Both Atallah and NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy declined to comment on the order, but Mayeron spelled out her expectations tersely.