Posted by Will Brinson

Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning issued a statement on labor negotiations recently, and as we noted earlier, it was a pretty bold statement, even though the words might seem similar to a normal press release.

On Wednesday while on XX Radio 1090 in San Diego, Brees confirmed our belief about the statement, and made some even stronger noise about the current state of the lockout, pointing ou that a deal is "very close," and that "few details" remain in nailing down a labor agreement.

"We've taken a significant setback in overall revenue in terms of what we've offered them compared to what we were making," Brees said. "I feel like there's a fair deal there -- we all do -- and we think it's time to step up and make a deal."

And that's precisely why the three most notable players in the current labor negotiations issued a statement regarding their stance.

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"Yesterday we felt like there's a fair deal on the table and we need to make sure everybody knows this and make sure the owners know this because the season is just around the corner," Brees said about the statement the players issued.

Brees also addressed the issue of retired players, stating that the current players would take care of them in the negotiations, and pointing out that the folks at the current bargaining table are actually pretty close to being retired themselves.

"Maybe they DO have a seat at the table," Brees said about retired players. "I'm the second-youngest guy at the table … these are guys who going to be retired players soon.

"And they're certainly looking out for those guys."

That's gotta be nice to hear if you're a retired player. But much nicer to hear? Brees' comments about how close a deal is and that the players did in fact take a "substantial" cut in order to make something happen.

Obviously there are reasons why they'd do this, and there are probably other areas in which they're going to benefit -- hello, massive free-agent class! -- that enabled them to give up more money.

That's not important. What's important is finishing this puppy off and getting everyone on the football field in time for a normal year of NFL action.

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