"It's one of those things that's tough to put an end date on, but we're certainly at the point where every second matters," Adolpho Birch, NFL senior vice president of law and labor policy, said Tuesday. "The longer we wait, it becomes increasingly hard to do what the parties agreed to. Players are starting to be released, and with every player released, that's one less eligible to participate in the population study. We're already starting to erode our ability to do what was agreed to."