"As the NFL sees it, close inspection of the demands of Patriots guard Logan Mankins and Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson could very well reveal the fingerprints of Jeffrey Kessler, NFLPA* lawyer and architect of the Brady antitrust action.

It is currently believed by the league that only an effort by Kessler to overplay his hand will derail a new labor deal. The demands of Mankins and Jackson for free agency or $10 million each, could be exactly what the league feared.

Indeed, virtually every remaining issue as of Monday morning (with the exception of the league's effort to close the California workers' compensation loophole) represented a demand from the players, as developed and communicated by Kessler. Kessler wants $320 million in benefits that weren't paid in the final year of a labor deal that was overwhelmingly favorable to the players, a claim that borders on the ludicrous. Kessler wants a lump sum for the "lockout insurance" case (something that, in all fairness to Kessler, the league should have expressly included when moving from its proposal regarding the revenue split to the final range of 46.5-to-48 cents). And now Kessler wants at least two of the named plaintiffs to be exempt from the rules that will apply to the rest of the 1,900 players. (Previously, Kessler wasted hours of negotiating time arguing for a franchise tag exemption on behalf of Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.)

This newest hurdle, advanced in part on behalf of a receiver who should be glad he's still in the league after a pair of DUI incidents, could have been avoided in March, if Kessler had merely advised his ultimate client, NFLPA* executive director DeMaurice Smith, to ensure that any of the men volunteering to be named plaintiffs would leave their personal agendas at the door."