The NFL is in advanced talks with ESPN to purchase a stake in the sports media network, The New York Post's Andrew Marchand reports.

If the talks come to fruition, the partnership would streamline distribution of the league's game broadcasts while further muddying the waters of ESPN's role in covering the NFL as an objective journalistic enterprise.

Per the report, talks between the two entities have progressed to the point that team owners and the NFL Players Association are being informed about the discussions. A league partnership with ESPN would need to be addressed in the NFL's collective bargaining agreement that lays out revenue sharing between players and team owners.