The first round of the 2019 NFL Draft had more than 11 million viewers.

The average audience for all three days of the draft on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network was 6.1 million viewers. The NFL announced an average viewership of 5.5 million last year.

In terms of total viewership, the NFL claims 47.5 million viewers over three days compared to 45.4 million last year.

Roger Goodell is encouraged the NFL has begun talks with the union on a new collective bargaining agreement.

The current deal expires in 2021. The NFL reached the agreement in 2011 after an offseason lockout.

“The bottom line is we do have a CBA in place for close to eight years and it has worked very well for players, clubs, fans and the game,” he told SiriusXM NFL Radio. “These discussions are happening and hopefully we will get to a place where we can extend the deal in some format.

“When you have dialogue and understand each other and listen to each other, it’s ‘OK, how can we use this to have a better league?’ Our league is better when we listen to opposing views.”

During the owners meetings this year, there was a suggestion the NFL could make the field bigger to improve player safety.

Players have become bigger, faster and stronger, but the field has stayed the same size.

"That was the first time I’d ever heard about that," writes Jay Glazer.

The NFL declined to comment on comments made by Tom Coughlin about the absences of players for voluntary workouts with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“We’re close to 100 percent attendance — and quite frankly all of our players should be here,” said Coughlin.

From Article 21, Section 5(a) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement: “No Club official may indicate to a player that the Club’s offseason workout program or classroom instruction is not voluntary”

“All our players should be here” represents an in-plain-sight indication that the sessions aren’t voluntary.

The union pushed back twice in 2017 against aggressive efforts from Coughlin to get around the rules.