The NFL still has yet to interview the four players named along with Peyton Manning in a December news report that linked them with human growth hormone or other performance-enhancing drugs.
In a Wednesday phone interview with USA Today Sports, NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said meetings with the players were imminent.
"It's our expectation that we will interview the players involved over the next month or so," Lockhart said, according to the newspaper, regarding Clay Matthews, James Harrison, Julius Peppers and Mike Neal.
The league is "in conversations with the union over the timing" of the meetings, Lockhart said.
Manning, who retired after his Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers to win the Super Bowl, adamantly denied the assertions in an Al Jazeera America documentary, saying he would likely file suit against the media company.
But the USA Today Sports report, citing a source with knowledge of Manning's strategy, said Manning won't take legal action after consulting extensively with lawyers.
Manning was concerned over the time, cost and the possibility it would make public much of the private lives of he and his wife, Ashley, the report said.