More than a year-and-a-half after signing a collective bargaining agreement that provided for human growth hormone testing for NFL players, the league and the NFL Players Association seem to be closing in on a deal to implement the program in advance of the 2013 season.

The two sides have recently exchanged written proposals, and union leaders will study and discuss the NFL's latest offer when they gather next week at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas for the NFLPA's annual meeting,

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However, as the two sides haggle over the remaining points of contention and move toward a system of third-party arbitration over appeals of all positive drug tests, it’s clear that the players’ distrust of commissioner Roger Goodell is spurring the union to drive a hard bargain. In the wake of Goodell’s handling of the New Orleans Saints’ pay-for-injure scandal, union leaders and their constituents seem united in their belief that the commissioner enjoys too much power.

"The long and short of it is, we're not going to agree to a system that doesn't give the player full due-process rights on HGH," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday. "That's where we started, and that's where we'll end up. We believe in collective bargaining. The fact that the league would rather force us to accept something that's not fair, rather than bargaining for it, is worrisome."

Despite public pressure from the NFL, which has accused them of stalling, and from two U.S. Congressmen, who earlier this year chastised the union for its "remarkable recalcitrance," players have held firm on their insistence that Goodell surrender some of his existing power.

The league has already agreed to cede its authority over appeals of all positive drug tests (recreational and performance-enhancing) to a neutral, third-party arbitrator, among other concessions.

"There are no true differences here, only manufactured ones," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Friday. "We fully share the union's belief in reliable, scientifically-valid testing. That is why we want to use the same test used in baseball, basketball, hockey, the Olympic games, and every other sport in which HGH testing takes place.

"As to the appeals process, we offered — two years ago — to have all appeals of drug and steroid tests heard by third-party arbitrators. More recently, the union said it wanted the same appeal process used in the Major League Baseball program and we have offered to do exactly that."

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However, according to a source familiar with the negotiations, the players also want to extend third-party arbitration to cover what is known in the drug policy as "other appeals" — offenses which do not involve positive drug tests but nonetheless subject the player to discipline.

For example, if a player is pulled over for speeding, and a banned recreational substance such as marijuana is found in his possession, he would currently be subject to Goodell's discipline, with no ability to appeal the penalty to an outside arbiter. The same is true of alcohol-related arrests, such as when a player is arrested for driving under the influence but later pleads guilty to a lesser charge like reckless driving. And arrests for possession of performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids would also fall under this umbrella.

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