Foxborough - Patriots owner Robert Kraft is the subject of a profile in the current issue of Fortune magazine.

The story focuses on the success of the Patriots and how Kraft is a considerable power broker in league circles.

To that end, Kraft gave his opinion on the current state of labor negotiations between the league the National Football League Players' Association:

"We're going to get a deal," he told Fortune during a recent conversation in his spacious office in Gillette Stadium, where he sits surrounded by Patriots memorabilia. "I think a number of us will want to do whatever we've got to do to do it."

Kraft also predicted the league will expand the schedule from 16 to 18 games.

"That's the key to the deal," Kraft says. "If you don't grow the pie, you can't pay your bills." But in Chicago, Kraft also struck a somewhat ominous tone and urged the players union to agree to a deal sooner rather than later. "It'll be less of a deal the more time that goes by," he said. "If we go down the road of a lockout and losing games, we all lose."

Kraft is currently traveling and was unavailable for comment earlier in the week.