ATLANTA -- Barring an unexpected breakdown in negotiations, ESPN.com has learned that the Atlanta Falcons and Keith Brooking should agree on Thursday on a new contract, likely a six-year deal that will keep the team's star middle linebacker off the unrestricted free agent market.

The two parties are in accord on many of the principle elements of the deal and assuming it is completed on Thursday, which is the expectation of both sides, the agreement would come only one day after Falcons vice president Ray Anderson characterized negotiations as "at an impasse."

The negotiations have accelerated, however, with the goal of coming to an agreement by Thursday evening.

Illustrating the new level of negotiations, ESPN.com learned that Anderson has returned to Atlanta from Indianapolis, where he was attending the NFL's predraft scouting combine. Agent Pat Dye, who reiterated on Wednesday his client's goal of staying in Atlanta, has delayed his departure to Indianapolis, which was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

The parties will meet at the home of owner Arthur Blank to hammer out the final details of the contract. Anderson and Dye would then proceed on to the combine on Blank's private jet.

It is believed that Brooking will receive a signing bonus of about $10 million and that would be the second-highest ever awarded by the franchise. The club paid quarterback Michael Vick a combined $11 million signing and option bonus -- $3 million upfront and $8 million the following March -- after choosing him with the first overall selection in the 2001 draft.

The Falcons decided on Wednesday, as first reported by ESPN.com, that they would not use a "franchise" tag on Brooking, even without a long-term deal before the 4 p.m. Thursday deadline.

That decision did not necessarily mean the two-time Pro Bowl performer would go on the open market, since the free agency period does not begin until Feb. 28, providing the Falcons and Brookings' representatives eight more days to potentially negotiate a contract. But team officials did not want to face another deadline and pushed for a quick resolution.

Placing the "franchise" tag on Brooking would have meant an immediate cap charge of $5.614 million. That would have significantly reduced the team's current salary cap cushion. A long-term deal will mean a lower salary cap number for 2003, since the team can prorate the signing bonus over the length of the contract.

Ironically, one of the veteran free agents Atlanta was expected to ardently pursue in free agency, Buffalo wide receiver Peerless Price, was tagged with a "franchise" designation by the Bills on Wednesday evening.

The "franchise" designation on Price might actually have helped speed up the Brooking negotiations, since Atlanta knew the wide receiver might now be out of their reach.

Dye spoke twice with Anderson on Wednesday afternoon and made no progress toward a long-term deal for Brooking. It appeared then no deal was imminent, even though Brooking, a Georgia native, had reiterated in recent days he would accept a lesser offer to stay with the team that made him its first-round choice in the 1998 draft.

Cleary, the Falcons played on Brookings' emotions in negotiations, and counted on receiving a "home town discount" of sorts.

While the Falcons were believed to be offering a $10 million signing bonus for the last few days, the structure of their proposal and the payout was said to be inferior to that of the six-year extension defensive end Patrick Kerney signed last year.

That deal easily voids after four years, includes a signing bonus of $8.5 million, and is worth $25.04 million over four seasons. Extrapolating the Kerney signing bonus over the six-year model with which both Anderson and Dye have been working, the signing bonus would be $12.75 million.

It is believed the Falcons improved the payout structure to help close the gap between themselves and Brooking.

Inarguably one of the game's top four middle linebackers, Brooking, 27, might have actually commanded a signing bonus of $12 million-$13 million as an unrestricted free agent. In informal surveys, the general managers from two other teams indicated to ESPN.com they would consider such a bonus for Brooking, if he were on the open market.

Most teams have anticipated that the Falcons would never allow Brooking to reach unrestricted free agency. Reached at the annual predraft combine in Indianapolis, the personnel director of one AFC team said he is "shocked" to learn that Atlanta will not apply the "franchise" designation to Brooking.

A former Georgia Tech standout, Brooking became the fifth defender in franchise history to record over 200 tackles in 2002 (according to statistics kept by the team). He is the rare middle linebacker who actually stays on the field for all three downs, and that is part of what would have makes him attractive to other teams.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.