Calling the players' offer “fair for both sides,” star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees — plaintiffs in an antitrust suit against the NFL — said Wednesday “it is time” to wrap up negotiations on a deal to end the league's lockout. At the bargaining table, though, it wasn't that easy. On the day Brady, Manning and Brees spoke as a group publicly for the first time, players and owners spent nearly 11 hours meeting at a Manhattan law office. About two hours after players' association chief DeMaurice Smith left, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell walked out with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the league's lead negotiator Jeff Pash at 10 P.M. Other owners including Pittsburgh's Art Rooney and Carolina's Jerry Richardson departed around then, too. Negotiations were scheduled to resume Thursday morning. With each passing day, the need to strike a bargain and end the first NFL work stoppage since 1987 becomes greater. Deadlines are coming up next week to get training camps and the preseason started on time. Although it seems the sides have agreed on the basic elements of how to split more than $9 billion in annual revenues, among the key sticking points recently have been how to structure a new rookie salary system and what free agency will look like.
