Stephen Nicholas in limbo during labor strife

Here, Stephen Nicholas (54) is flying over the top of the pile of Falcons as they stop the 49ers' Frank Gore (21) in the first quarter. Johnny Crawford / jcrawford@ajc.com ******* – Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas has had a busy offseason. Nicholas is watching the labor situation closely because he’s directly affected. His future with the Falcons will likely turn on the status of four-year players under a new collective bargaining agreement. He had to make a decision on whether to sign a tender the Falcons made. He elected not to sign it and has switched agents. He wants a long-term deal and doesn’t want to play under a one-year tender if possible. We caught up with Nicholas, who’s started 25 games over the last two seasons and has played in 65 games over his career, at the team’s ad-hoc offseason strength and conditioning program. Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas (54) discusses the importance of keeping fit with kids. (By PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@A...