Prepare.

That’s the apparent message coming from NFL Players’ Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, who sent an email advising agents to begin budgeting for a possible season-long work stoppage in 2021.

“We are advising players to plan for a work stoppage of at least a year in length,” Smith wrote in an email obtained by Sports Business Daily.

The current CBA expires after the 2020 season, and though the sides have begun discussion a new labor deal, many of the league’s media deals are up after 2022 and players want a big share of that pie. The NFL has changed its approach, according to the New York Times, and is expected to agree to a modest increase in the players’ share of league revenue.

Even with Smith’s heads-up to agents and advisors, players have been saving their checks from the ‘Madden’ video game series in order to build their funds for a potential lockout.