Jackson, Mankins want to be set free

[CmWYNNE3]

The agents for San Diego Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson and New England Patriots guard Logan Mankins reportedly are demanding their clients become unrestricted free agents once the lockout is lifted or receive $10 million payments as part of the settlement of the Brady vs. NFL antitrust lawsuit.

Both players are among 10 named plaintiffs in the lawsuit and both received franchise tags from their teams before the NFL locked out its players in March. Yahoo! Sports reported the demand, citing unnamed sources.

A league source confirmed to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter the demands made by Jackson's agents, but Mankins and his agent, Frank Bauer, have not given their damages or repayment number to the NFL Players Association or its attorneys yet, according to the source.

The Brady lawsuit is one of the final items that needs to be resolved before the NFL and its players can agree to a new collective bargaining agreement. One league source told Schefter that he doubted the reported issue would hold up a settlement, however.

"Is Vincent Jackson going to hold up the NFL season for 1,900 players, the clubs and the fans? Too smart a guy for that," the source told Schefter.

Sources told ESPN.com's John Clayton that neither Jackson nor Mankins have been contacted recently about a settlement to the Brady lawsuit. However, the NFLPA is drawing up a draft of the settlement to review Tuesday, a player source told Schefter.

League sources had told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that the limit of franchise tags on the plaintiffs in the Brady antitrust lawsuit could be the anchor to a settlement in that case.

There is precedent for Jackson and Mankins to demand free agency. As part of the Reggie White antitrust lawsuit vs. the NFL in 1993 that instituted free agency, the plaintiffs were granted a lifetime exemption from the franchise tag.

Sources familiar with the ongoing talks told Schefter Monday that the sides in the labor dispute are amenable to rolling the remaining issues that are most problematic -- the settlement of the Brady vs. NFL antitrust lawsuit and the television "lockout insurance" damages case -- into a global settlement.

A global settlement would mean that those two cases, along with the retired players' lawsuit and all other legal issues, would be dropped if the players ratify a new collective bargaining agreement, which is expected to cover the next 10 seasons. That would be the quickest way to get the lockout lifted.

Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller and lawyers for retired NFL players joined labor talks with representatives of owners and current players Tuesday as signs mounted that the league's lockout might almost be over.

As part of the pending deal, the NFL and its players have agreed to increase benefits for retired players by nearly $1 billion over the life of the agreement, according to a source. That includes creating a "legacy fund" that will increase by $620 million over the 10-year span, the source said.

The newly created fund is designed to help retired players deal with the injuries and troubles that come after football and would be financed by siphoning off a chunk of total league revenues.

The court-appointed mediator, U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, also was at the session Tuesday, his second consecutive day overseeing negotiations at a New York law firm. The sides were trying to close a deal to resolve the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987.

Members of the NFLPA's executive committee and representatives of every team were heading to Washington by Wednesday in preparation for a possible vote.

Players' association spokesman George Atallah said the players would be gathering "with the hope they have something to look at, and with the hope we can move forward on this."

A player representative confirmed that players will vote on the proposed CBA Wednesday, assuming both sides address the unresolved issues beforehand.

The NFL sent a memo to all 32 teams Monday instructing key executives to attend Thursday's owners meeting in Atlanta, sources told ESPN's Schefter. Each team will have two representatives in the room to vote on a CBA, if one is agreed to by players and owners. However, each team also will bring other front-office personnel to learn about the rules of a potential new CBA.

If the owners ratify a new CBA Thursday, players can begin arriving at facilities Friday and team activities can begin as early as Monday

The 28-year-old Jackson had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in 2008 and 2009. He was a Pro Bowl pick in 2009.

Jackson's original five-year contract expired after the 2009 season. Unhappy that he didn't get a long-term deal, Jackson refused to sign a $3,268,000, one-year tender as a restricted free agent in 2010.

He sat out the first seven games, then reported and served a three-game suspension on the roster exempt list. The 6-foot-5 Jackson was on the active roster for the final six games to accrue a season toward unrestricted free agency. But because Jackson hadn't signed the tender by June 15, prior to the 2010 season, the Chargers slashed their offer to 110 percent of his 2009 salary, or $583,000. Due to the games he missed, he made less than $300,000 in 2010.

Mankins, 29, was a first-round draft pick of the Patriots in 2005. He has been to three Pro Bowls, including 2010, despite missing the first seven games due to a prolonged holdout.

Mankins and the Patriots were at odds last summer, when the guard said he hoped to be traded because of the slow pace of negotiations on a contract extension.

Mankins was a restricted free agent -- a result of the NFL's going from a salary-cap system to an uncapped year in 2010 -- but did not sign his $3.26 million tender. That led to an extended standoff, with Mankins not reporting until the eighth game of the season. The Patriots sliced his tender to $1.54 million, which was prorated over the final nine games of the season.

Information from ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, ESPN.com senior NFL writer John Clayton, ESPNBoston.com Patriots writer Mike Reiss and The Associated Press was used in this report.