Judge Susan Richard Nelson told the NFL and NFL players that she will impose forced mediation on them early this week, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
The league had wanted more mediation in Washington, while federal mediator George Cohen and the NFL Players' Association wanted mediation in Minnesota.
Judge Nelson will decide what she feels is best and announce her decision early this week.
Judge Nelson had a one-hour conference call Friday with both sides and said she would use the weekend to figure out a solution, a source told ESPN's John Clayton.
One of the keys to any type of mediation is whether NFL owners are willing to not use a meeting with members of the NFL Players executive committee or members of the decertified NFLPA against the plaintiffs in the Tom Brady lawsuit filed in Nelson's federal court in St. Paul, Minn. Lawyers for the NFL offered such protection Friday in a letter to Judge Nelson and also indicated any mediation session would include owners with decision-making ability.
After the Friday conference call, Judge Nelson told both sides to be quiet about the conversations.
Adam Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider. John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.