It has been reported that the NFL's owners and players are close to a new labor agreement, but Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports writes that the two sides aren't as near to an agreement as some suggest. Saints quarterback Drew Brees increased speculation on Wednesday, telling San Diego's XX sports radio, "We're very close to a settlement. We're at that point in the negotiations where there's just a few more details to be ironed out." It's possible that an agreement could come within the next week. "Are we close? I wouldn't say that at all," said one NFLPA executive committee member. "Drew is the eternal optimist, and yeah, it's closer than it was a week ago. Could it happen quickly? Yes. But I'd be extremely surprised."