WASHINGTON -- Timeout, NFL. And NFLPA.

Buying time to try to close big gaps on big issues, the NFL and the players' union agreed Friday to extend the deadline for negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement by a week.

The current labor deal had been set to run out Thursday night. But the sides used an initial 24-hour extension to discuss and vote on the second, lengthier delay. Now the league and union will take a break over the weekend to assess their positions, resume mediation Monday, then have until the end of next Friday to talk.

"We're obviously having a lot of dialogue," commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday, the 11th day that he and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith have spent time at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. "We met for a lot of days. And we are going to meet for more."

Although the seven-day extension is the first true signal that owners and players might avoid a protracted legal skirmish and work stoppage, it's clear they are not close to a new CBA.

"It's a challenge," NFL general counsel and lead labor negotiator Jeff Pash said. "We've got very serious issues. We've got significant differences."

Most significant: money.

In addition to the owners' proposal Thursday, the union also has made concessions in the latest negotiations, sources on both sides told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen. The details of those concessions are unknown.

Earlier Friday, sources familiar with the process told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the sides narrowed the financial gap between them by roughly $5 million per team per year. Nevertheless, a significant divide exists -- roughly $25 million per team per year. With 32 teams in the league, the gap equates to $750 million to $800 million per year.

No one would say whether yet another extension would be possible if no new deal is reached by next Friday.

Goodell and Pash declined to discuss any details as they spoke to reporters outside mediator George Cohen's office at about 3 p.m. ET. Smith did the same on a sidewalk in front of the NFLPA's headquarters about three city blocks away.

Referring to next week's round of bargaining, Smith said: "We look forward to a deal coming out of that."

But when asked whether trust between the sides has been rebuilt, Smith replied: "When you say something about 'trust' or when you raise issues about things like 'confidence' -- none of those things are repaired quickly."