That's the way I feel about it. I get the feeling this would have gone away quickly and quietly if the players had met with the league when first asked (sometime last spring?). The union decided to take a stance. That immediately set up a battle, because the league could not simply say, "Oh, OK. Never mind." and then just ignore it. The union knew it to. Basically, the initial refusal pretty much indicated that this was going to court, because I didn't expect either side to back down until forced.
Manning's part with the league went mostly unnoticed until it was done, and the announcement made. It could have been the same with the other players.