NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw says he believes the owners are setting the stage for a lockout that could threaten the 2011 NFL season.

“That’s where we’re headed. They’re going to try to lock us out,” Upshaw tells Lester Munson of ESPN.com.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire after the 2010 season, and the owners and the players appear far off from any type of negotiations that could lead to an agreement to extend labor peace beyond 2010. The owners think they gave up too much during the last round of negotiations.

“They think [the current deal] is too rich for the players, and they want to take some back,” Upshaw said.

Adds union attorney Jeffrey Kessler, “The problem is that the owners could not agree among themselves on how they would share their revenues. The high-revenue teams do not want to share money they earn in their markets, and the low-revenue teams are unhappy about everything. So they find a place to agree — they try to get it back from the players.”

The 2011 season might feel like it’s a long way off, but the owners and the union should be addressing these issues now to avoid a labor stoppage.