Come on! The players are not blue collar workers working for minimum wage. This a case of millionaires vs. billionaires.
The fact of the matter is there are valid arguments and greedy self interests on both sides. The current CBA about to expire is bad for the growth of the NFL in the future. The players are taking a stand that is bad for the growth of the league and the owners are asking for too much back. They need to find a middle ground to benefit both. The owners are right about a rookie cap since it many season veterans end up ending their career earlier than they want or have to play for the veteran minimum when they can still provide value because unproven rookies instantly become among the highest paid players in the NFL when they come into the league.
Neither side really cares about the retired players who didn't make tens of millions playing in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s. Both pay lip service for PR reasons, but if both organizations had their way without any PR fallout, the old former players who bodies are destroyed and struggling to live on their pension would be screwed by both sides.
I understand why some people always back the unions and the workers in most disputes with ownership, but the players' union is not a real union. It is a group of mostly really rich people who battle with a group of people who are just significantly richer. The only group who really are the needy people who desperately need aid from a new CBA (former players who played before salaries became huge or were just at the bottom of the roster their entire career) don't have a huge say in the negotiations because the side that is there to defend them have them low on their priorities.