NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith told The MMQB/Sports Illustrated in a video interview posted Thursday that he expects a work stoppage when the league's current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2021.
"I think that the likelihood of either a strike or a lockout is almost a virtual certainty," he said.
"So we have a new deal where if it doesn't get fixed, you head into a certain 'small-a' Armageddon."
The NFL and its union agreed to the current 10-year CBA on July 25, 2011. That agreement came after a 132-day lockout.