Drew Brees: ‘I want no special perks’

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After a full day in which just about everyone read the plaintiffs in the Brady v. NFL case the riot act due to the perception that some of the NFL's greatest players were going to hold up the new CBA for their own benefits, we're now discovering that the presupposed conflict caused by players like Vincent Jackson, Logan Mankins, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning was more about last-second gamesmanship than an actual holdup by a few to make the many suffer.

In other words, the NFLPA will not recommend that the plaintiffs seek special treatment regarding their own contract conditions, instead aligning their causes with the greater good and ensuring that Brady can be settled along with all other outstanding lawsuits.

That eliminates the last hurdle in negotiations, and virtually guarantees that a new CBA will be approved by a majority of the players tomorrow, and a majority of the owners on Thursday. The remaining question of just how much those names players would have delayed or destroyed the new CBA unless they received special free agency considerations or additional settlement dollars was (hopefully) answered by Brees on his Twitter account, after the backlash hit home.

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In the end, football is a team sport. Just as Brees must rely on Jahri Evans and Manning must have Reggie Wayne on the field to perform at his best, the plaintiffs know that they have to fold their issues into the global settlement of all outstanding lawsuits for the good of the game. It is the only sensible option … and most likely, the only real one that was ever in play beyond the machinations of various negotiations.