Although the situation looks pretty bleak right now, the expectation is for the NFL lockout to end and a new CBA to be in place before any games are threatened. There's no telling just how long this could go on, though. The worst-case scenario involves the entire season being missed, and other bad scenarios involve part of the season being missed.

If any games are not played because of the lockout/lack of a CBA, it will be an all-around bad situation. If part of the season is salvaged, though, could a shortened season actually be a positive for a team like the Detroit Lions? Cris Collinsworth thinks so.

One of the things people noticed about the Lions' draft is that the first three picks play positions that don't necessarily require a lot of learning before hitting the field. The thinking is Nick Fairley, Titus Young and Mikel Leshoure could step in early on and not feel too out of place. If the season is shortened and training camp is limited, they may have to do just that. The good thing is they can, whereas many other rookies that teams need to play may not be ready quite as quickly.