Brees: NFL getting close to 'crunch time'

Saints quarterback Drew Brees, a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the NFL and a key voice for the players in the lockout, is calling it "crunch time" for saving the start of the season.

As the two sides met again Wednesday near Washington, optimism continued to grow that a deal could be reached in time to allow training camps to open in late July.

A person with knowledge of the talks told The Associated Press that Wednesday they included lawyers for both sides. Tuesday, several people familiar with the talks told AP that significant progress was being made toward ending the lockout, which began March 12. There has even been sentiment that a new collective bargaining agreement could be reached by early July.

Wednesday, although the AP source noted the progress at several of the meetings in the last three weeks, the person said a new collective bargaining agreement is not imminent.

"It's possible it could happen in few weeks, also possible it won't," a league source told Newsday Wednesday. "All in the balance and could go either way.''

Brees said there is "probably a sense of urgency with the season just around the corner." He said most players think it will be difficult to start the season on time if no deal is in place by mid-July.

"It seems like things are moving in the right direction, which is very positive,'' Brees said. "It's what we always hoped for as players because we're getting to crunch time here."

Bengals player representative Andrew Whitworth also hears a ticking clock. "I think everyone kind of has that feeling, that this thing's starting to end,'' he said. "When you look at the timeline for both sides, it starts to get real serious around this time.''

The sides issued a joint statement Wednesday: "Discussions between NFL owners and players under the auspices of Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan took place again this week and will continue. At the request of Judge Boylan, both sides have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of the substance of the talks."

Said Brees: "Little steps [are] good. I think the gap is being narrowed in a lot of different areas.

"It's hard to give any kind of prediction at this point. You can't necessarily believe everything you hear. But there is progress and that's a good thing."