Posted by Will Brinson

Up to this point, plaintiffs Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have been relatively quiet about their activity in the Brady v. NFL antitrust lawsuit and the current labor dispute between the players and the owners.

However, they made their voice known on Wednesday morning in a statement released to the Associated Press that called their latest offer "fair" and said it's "time to get this deal done."

"We believe the overall proposal made by the players is fair for both sides and it is time to get this deal done," Brady, Manning and Brees said in the statement.

"This is the time of year we as players turn our attention to the game on the field. We hope the owners feel the same way."

The league quickly responded with a statement of their own and -- you'll never believe this -- but they agree! It is time to get a deal done.

Such a notion isn't new to those of us (fans, commentators, etc) who've been on the negotiating sideline while the two sides spent the spring and summer bickering about the division of a couple billion dollars.

The time has been "now" for a while; it was there in March, it was there in April, it was there in May -- you get the point. But the benefit of having three of the biggest-named players in the league step up and publicly endorse the current deal on the table is that the public and the NFL are now aware that there's an ultimatum sitting out there from one of the sides.

Is that a good thing? Yes, if the league's feeling rational and actually does want to settle.

See, Brady/Manning/Brees aren't just issuing a press release or a statement indicating that they're ready for football. This is a legitimate statement to be taken seriously; we've seen how the lawyers are willing to hop into the fray and mess things up for everyone else who wants football.

And we should be legitimately concerned that if too many formal offers go back and forth between the two sides over the next couple of days that we could be facing a "walk away and keep suing" situation from the guys whose names are on the lawsuit.

That's the last thing that anyone wants to happen, and it's why the next three days of negotiating are so critical to ensuring that we have football in 2011.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed.