In response to allegations that he was 1/4 of the “douchebags” (Chris Kluwe’s words, not mine) holding up the settlement of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Vincent Jackson took to his Twitter account to tell his fans and followers that he’s innocent, and that he just wants to get out there and play. That should be a good thing, right?

Funny story – Jackson is still asking for $10 million. So is Logan Mankins. At least, that’s according to CBS Sports’ Mike Freeman, who thinks that Jackson is quite the fibber.

Logan Mankins and Vincent Jackson are still asking for cash compensation and that is one of the holdups over the finalizing of the CBA agreement, a source with knowledge of the situation told me.

Mankins and Jackson are still asking for $10 million each and this is slowing the process, the source explained. Jackson has denied he is seeking compensation.

The lawsuit against the NFL cannot be settled until all the plaintiffs agree and as of late Wednesday night, the source said, Mankins and Jackson were still seeking payment. The NFL, thus far, refuses to agree.

Freeman also thinks that this will be a non-story by some point today, as he expects Jackson and Mankins to come to their senses and drop their requests. But what if they don’t? What if Jackson and Mankins are so steadfast in their refusal to play unless they receive $10 million for their pain and suffering from all that time they spent holding out last season? My idea is that a bunch of the rookies and lower pay players put $20 million in two sacks and bring them to Jackson and Mankins. And then they can just beat the crap out of them.

Yesterday, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was seemingly the first NFL player to respond to allegations that Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Vincent Jackson and Logan Mankins were seeking special treatment (a la Reggie White in 1993) through their antitrust lawsuit with 6 other players. Manning and Brees reportedly wanted to be exempt from the franchise tag for the rest of their careers while Jackson and Mankins wanted to either be outright free agents or receive $10 million each for their troubles of last season. And as you can see from the Drew Brees Tweet above, it may not be true.

Boston Globe reporter Greg Bedard also Tweeted a few hours prior to Brees that the four “douchebags”, as Kluwe so wonderfully put it, had backed off of their special demands. But as Pro Football Talk pointed out last night, the reason for the special treatment claims is a whole lot simpler than we should have even thought.

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Heading into the weekend, there was a good feeling in the sports world that the NFL Lockout was so close to lifting and that we wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Expectations were so high that the World Wide Leader was reporting that teams could have been negotiating with and signing undrafted free agents and their own free agents as early as yesterday, while others even believed that the lockout could be completely over by the end of this week, thus sparking the greatest, most bombastic free agency period in professional sports history. Turns out that was all a big bunch of poop. You can thank Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Vincent Jackson and Logan Mankins for that.

For starters, Jackson and Mankins, who both sat out for most of last season due to failed contract negotiations, have their own specific demands:

Yahoo! Sports has learned through multiple sources that the agents for wide receiver Vincent Jackson(notes) and guard Logan Mankins(notes) have requested that their players either become unrestricted free agents when the lockout is over or that they receive $10 million each as part of the settlement. (Yahoo!)

Manning and Brees, though, want to make sure that they can never be given the franchise tag. Manning just received the Colts’ tag in February before the lockout began and Brees would most likely receive the Saints’ tag after this season when he becomes a free agent.

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