Is no news good news?

When it comes to the ongoing mediation between the NFL, its owners, its locked-out players and its retirees, who knows?

But the fact that the parties left the ninth-floor chambers of U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan after seven hours of talks without red faces, bloody noses or fingermarks around their necks has to count for something, right?

Maybe. The sides aren't talking, as per court gag order. But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Vikings linebacker and assistant player representative Ben Leber all confirmed they are scheduled to meet in Minneapolis again Wednesday. So the process is at least continuing.

As they did last Thursday and Friday, the parties gathered in Boylan's chambers and pretty much stayed there all day. Tuesday was the day Boylan ordered the participants to reconvene. But, where former Viking Carl Eller last week characterized the mediation as "making progress," everyone involved Tuesday remained mum.

That should make U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson happy. She has ordered the parties not to talk about what they talk about behind Boylan's closed doors. But these quiet talks could make a loud impact on whether the NFL and its players compete in 2011 and beyond.

Currently, the players are locked out, and the 2011 season is an uncertainty.

The chain of events began last month, when players "decertified" or disbanded their union when their previous collective bargaining agreement with the NFL expired and talks on a new contract broke off.

NFL owners then responded with a lockout, prohibiting players from working out with their teams, signing contracts or doing anything NFL-related. All league business -- except for preparations for the upcoming draft -- has ceased.

The players then filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, accusing the league of unfairly restricting their ability to earn a living. Nelson was assigned that case.

Players then asked Nelson to issue an injunction, forcing the league and players back to work. A lawsuit filed by retired players has since been joined to the players' suit.

Nelson ordered the mediation and said she will rule soon on the players' request for an injunction. How long the two sides will continue to meet in mediation -- much like the progress of those talks -- is anybody's guess.