The NFL players union is instructing agents to negotiate contracts as if no new labor deal will be in place during free agency. Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, finished talks in Indianapolis on Friday without an extension to the collective bargaining agreement and sounded pessimistic that a contract can be reached before the March 3 start of the league calendar. If that is the case, he said, it could take a while. "Once we get to the league year, I don't see us getting a deal done any time soon," Upshaw said in the meeting. "We're taking the position we're not going to get this resolved, so you should go ahead and do contracts based on that." Upshaw was in Indianapolis for the annual NFL scouting combine and had met with owners over the past couple of days. He cut short a negotiating session Wednesday, saying the meeting had descended into a repetition of points by members on both sides of the table.