PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Trial Settlement May Be Near

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who is trying to engineer a player-owner settlement before the Freeman McNeil antitrust trial resumes Monday, was in Minneapolis on Thursday night as rumors spread that the parties have agreed to resume negotiations.

Tagliabue is the ex officio head of the Management Council’s executive committee, whose seven members were empowered by the league’s 28 club owners this week to settle with the players if they could.

One obstacle reportedly was cleared Thursday when the executive committee conditionally agreed to a multimillion-dollar damage settlement with McNeil, his lawyers and others suing the league. The condition: agreement on the two main issues, player free agency and a salary cap.