LAKE FOREST, Ill. – During a visit to Halas Hall Thursday, new NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith met separately with Bears players, coaches and front office personnel.

Smith, who succeeded the late Gene Upshaw in March, also spoke to a few members of the media, reiterating that he’s confident a new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be reached.

DeMaurice Smith was named the NFL Players Association's executive director in March.

NFL owners opted out of the current CBA last year. If a new deal is not struck, the league faces a potential uncapped season in 2010 and a possible lockout in 2011.

“I’m confident because our players want to play the game, our coaches want to coach the game and it’s my hope and belief that the owners want to play the game,” Smith said.

“I’m always confident where A, there’s dialogue, and B, there’s a love of our game, so that gives me a great deal of confidence. Do we have some things to address that the players know are fundamental to the negotiations? Absolutely.”

The Bears are the ninth of 28 NFL teams that Smith plans to visit on a nationwide tour. The question he has been asked most by players concerns why the owners opted out of the CBA.

“I have the luxury of being the new guy,” he said. “No one’s told me why they opted out. I read everything that you [media] guys read and have read everything that was said at the time. But other than what I’ve read, there have been no specifics.

“I don’t know if there has been any specifics about why they opted out, what factors led them to opt out, what financial conditions necessitated the decision, what analysis they employed in order to reach a conclusion that the deal wasn’t good for them.”

Smith, a trial lawyer and former counsel to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, feels that it’s imperative for the NFL to disclose financial records before formal negotiations begin.

“I’m a data guy,” Smith said. “I’ve never been a part of any transaction, case, discussion or fight where everybody didn’t know and understand and appreciate exactly what you’re fighting, negotiating and talking about. So with that as sort of my bedrock principle, where I start is where the players start.”

Part of Smith’s belief that a new deal will be reached stems from the mutual respect that exists between him and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

“I’ve got a great relationship with Roger,” Smith said. “We have an open line of communication. I can’t imagine our relationship being any better or getting started in a better way than we have now. We talk probably two to three times a week. I’ll in all likelihood see him next week.

“Going back to the question about whether I am confident, the first piece of that level of confidence is I think we do have a good way of talking with each other. We do have I think a healthy respect for talking and diving into the issues and we’re already there, so that’s a good thing.”

In an uncapped year, NFL teams could spend an unlimited amount of money on players, but there would also be no minimum expenditure required like there is in the current system. Players would also need to have six accrued seasons to be eligible for free agency rather than four.

Smith touched on another issue Thursday, telling reporters that players throughout the league have talked to him about their teams violating the CBA by allowing contact drills in offseason workouts. None of those complaints have come from Bears players, he said.

“Generally there is a huge amount of concern on behalf of the players,” Smith said. “They are all businessmen, but their value commodity is their legs, their knees, their hips, their arms, their shoulders, their head, their eyes.

“They’re always interested in a world where they understand the ramifications if they violate the rules on the field or off the field. They get it. They understand. What they don’t understand is how year after year after year they can have or be in a scenario where there are violations of the contact rule by teams.”