Updated Drew info:
 

According to ESPN the money is right. The years is what is holding it up. 18 mil a year is what they agreed upon but drew wants it front loaded. He wants 23 a year fir the first 3 years.

The New Orleans Saints and quarterback Drew Brees are millons of dollars apart on a new contract as the Monday franchise tag deadline draws near, sources tell ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

The two sides, both of whom believe they are making a fair offer, are facing a gap of $5 million per season for the first three seasons of the proposal, sources told Schefter.

Brees, who led the Saints to their only Super Bowl championship and broke Dan Marino's single-season passing yards record last season, is seeking a contract that averages $23 million per season for the first three years of his deal, sources told Schefter. That's the same amount Peyton Manning's contract averages the first three seasons.


Drew Brees
#9 QB
New Orleans Saints
2011 STATS
Att
657
Comp
468
Yds
5476
TD
46
Int
14
Rat
110.6
The Saints are offering Brees a five-year contract that averages $18 million a year, sources told Schefter. That's the same average that Manning and New England's Tom Brady are due to earn over the life of their deals.

If the two sides cannot make considerable progress from where they are now, the Saints will be forced to use their franchise tag on Brees by the Monday deadline.

Brees has said he is confident a deal will get done by the deadline.

If the Saints can get Brees signed to a long-term contract extension, they would have the flexibility to use their tag on another player. What makes this important is that the Saints have two other marquee free agents, wide receiver Marques Colston and Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks.

The 2011 offensive player of the year arrived in New Orleans in 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina struck. Since then, Brees has passed for more yards (28,394) than any other quarterback in the NFL while lifting the Saints to new heights and simultaneously helping the region heal from Katrina's devastation.

In 2011, Brees set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2. His prolific passing numbers helped the Saints set a new NFL high for total offensive yards in a season with 7,474.

The 33-year-old Brees led the Saints to a 13-3 regular-season record and second NFC South division title. New Orleans defeated Detroit in the first round of the playoffs before falling in the final seconds of its divisional-round game at San Francisco.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Well...should I say somewhat reassuring, in terms of the money at least being right???? Still....let's git'r done already!!!!

Us mere mortals would be lucky to get close to earning 1 million in a lifetime and he can turn down 18 mil because it isn't more than manning or Brady.
I know drew is worth the money, just saying this is absurd

:popcorn:

Feeling conflicted...I love Brees, but dang, where does it stop? Guess I'll watch this train wreck til the bitter end.

Wouldn't the saints want it front loaded in the form of a signing bonus as well?

and, 18 is the right number. Hard to complain about

CBSSports.com's Larry Holder reports Drew Brees rejected an offer prior to the 2011 season that would have made him the highest-paid player in the NFL.

This gibes with recent reports that hint Brees has been more demanding than expected, especially after suggestions that he "doesn't want or expect" his contract to prevent the Saints from re-signing other key players. NFL teams can get awfully creative with the cap, but $22-23 million per year for the quarterback would certainly be a hurdle in locking up players such as Carl Nicks and Marques Colston.

Source: Larry Holder on Twitter

Well I guess this ends the "why didn't we address this last year" argument.

OF COURSE! Look, let's stop drinking to Cool-Aid. Brees is a player in the NFL, he's not the savior of New Orleans or everyone's best-est friend. This is football and this is a business. Say what you want but Brees has pushed this to the limit.

If we waste a franchise tag over this, you throw all that "I'm going to do what's in the best interest of the team" BS out the window. Best interests of the team RIGHT NOW is for Drew to take 18 mil a year and free-up the franchise tag now rather than drag this out through Monday.

I love Drew. I love him as our QB, but I also know this is reality and not reality TV.

exactly! again...what are you going to do with 23 million per yer in the first 3 years that you aren't/ cant do with 18?!?!?!? man this is a problem i wish i had...

I know one thing the team can't do now that he wants 23 mil and won't accept 18 - upgrade the defense

The one side of the ball that needs major help is going to suffer, sure spags will probably work well with the current roster, but this deal between us and drew isn't helping our team get all the pieces in place when we are so damn close

If Brees had a different agent, this would all have been done by now. This is ALL about Condon wanting to top his earlier Peyton Manning, biggest-ever contract with an even bigger, biggest-ever contract for Drew. I've been saying this, he's had them running like streetcars on the track, one after the other, spaced a year apart, this has been his plan and his idea with these two QBs all along. It's an agent's equivalent to winning back-to-back Super Bowls. It will make Condon into the "agent equivalent" of a Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, the best ever, nobody even close. It's not really Drew, at this point, it's Condon who has been driving all this mess. I say the Saints will NOT get out of this with Drew in a Saints uniform, unless they feed Condon's ego and wallet by beating Peyton's deal that Condon got, either this year, or next if they tag him. I don't like it one bit, but that's kinda what I think is going on.

One would think that after a player has a few ga-jillion dollars in the bank money becomes less important than accomplishments. Brees already has the stats and records for the Hall of Fame. His only remaining accomplishment is to be called the greatest QB….ever. That requires Super Bowl Championships…..plural. I figure that Brees needs at least two more rings while continuing to put up record passing stats. He well knows that he can't win them alone. Take one piece from the puzzle, be it Sean Payton, the O-line, one more clutch receiver, or a defense that can stop a mediocre QB on two late drives in a big playoff game, and it isn't going to happen. Brees is good, even great, but not the best ever…..yet.

You would think he would consider that endorsments from being the defacto greatest QB…ever, who sacrificed to keep his team together, would far outweigh the few million he is haggling over now.

C'mon man….

simple
When he is constantly getting knocked on his @ss because Matt Tenant is starting at guard, he can land on his fat wallet

Agents are Satan Spawns. No argument from me on that one...BUT...

Those agents are employed by the players, no? And yes, many players have been and are probably removed a fair distance from the negotiations...but whatever...

You want to find the problem, determine where it is the buck stops. The buck stops with the player. If Drew wanted this over and done with it would be over and done with even if Satan himself was doing the negotiating.

We all need to remember what happened when the highest paid player in the NFL went down. The Colts imploded. They had too many parts that weren't doing their job because they were all the team could afford.

Touche…. Brees, Colston and Nicks are all major contributors to each other's successes. Obviously, Brees dominates the group but loose any one of the three and the other two suffer. My feeling is Nicks may be undervalued. Without the great protection he has had Brees' numbers would be down considerably.

So if he would just think ahead, Brees would see that if we got to keep all of our elite players, his chances of a SB repeat would be much greater, thus making him more valuable, and worth even more....more endorsements, more exposure, more fame, etc., etc., etc. Greed is what really does a lot of people in.

Tag the guy already and make him take 16 mil for turning down 18...

Whats surprising to me is that Bress turned down being the highest paid player last year... remind me again but wasn't that the year he threw 22ints and had the 4th ranked D but could only manage 11-5 record. Oh that's right it was the year he had no running game and he seemed like an avg QB. Come to think of it Bress has only done well when he has had a good running game to work with.... just sayin you AINT worth 23 p/y ... we may be the sAINTS again unless Loomis can pull a rabbit out of his hat.

I'm not freaking out. It'll get done and I think they will prob go with 20 Mil a year. Thats between 18 and 23. I don't know. It's a poker match for sure. See if one side freaks.

It's in Brees' best interest to sign the deal rather than take a pay cut for the tag. It's in the Saints' best interest to keep him.

They will work it out. Brees wants to retire a Saint. This is probably his last contract and he knows it. The Saints ain't **** without Drew and they know it. It'll get done this weekend when one party gives.

The tag will be used on a player that the Saints want to retain (not named Drew) and it will get done.

Besides, I dreamed of this day a year or so ago I think. Saturday is the day. Yeah...20 Mill 5 years I think it was.

Article:Brees rejected contract offer in 2011
 

Saints quarterback Drew Brees rejected a contract offer from the club last year that would have made him the highest paid player in the NFL, according to a report published Friday at CBS Sports.com.

The report, citing an unidentified league source, is the first to say the money New Orleans offered Brees would have made him the league's highest paid player, but The Times-Picayune has confirmed a contract was offered to Brees and he rejected it.


New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees rejected rich 2011 contract offer: report | NOLA.com

I don't mind the money, but the front loaded part is pretty disconcerting because the Saints can't really afford that right now... after 2014 for sure, but 2012 and 2013 are still going to be under the lower salary cap.

Report: Saints offered Brees NFL's richest deal; QB declined
 

Report: Saints offered Brees NFL's richest deal; QB declined


As the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees continue talks on a long-term deal that have left the quarterback frustrated, general manager Mickey Loomis has refuted a report he doesn't believe the four-time All-Pro is a great player. The size of the team's reported contract offer would seem to reflect as much.

A league source told CBS Sports that Brees and his agent, Tom Condon, turned down an offer that would have made the six-time Pro Bowl pick the highest-paid player in the NFL.

The report surfaced a day after three sources told Yahoo! Sports that Loomis, who has led the team's negotiations, recently characterized Brees as "very good" in response to the quarterback being called "great."

Loomis responded to the report Friday, saying it didn't hold credence. He told the New Orleans Times-Picayune it was "ridiculous" to believe he doesn't think of Brees as a great player, and although he wouldn't go into specifics about a contract, added that the team appreciates Brees' greatness.

"We're trying to pay him accordingly," Loomis told the newspaper.

"I have always thought of Drew as a great player," he added. "Always. Even when his shoulder was damaged. That's why we wanted him."


Sources with knowledge of the situation told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora that Brees has grown frustrated with the negotiations, and the Saints will use the franchise tag on him if a long-term deal can't be reached.

The deadline for teams to use the franchise tag is March 5. The franchise-tag value for quarterbacks is expected to be about $14.4 million.

Reports have suggested the Saints would like to avoid using the tag on Brees, given it could hinder their ability to retain two other key players set to hit free agency -- wide receiver Marques Colston and guard Carl Nicks.

Brees, who led the Saints to their only Super Bowl title in the 2009 season, threw for an NFL-record 5,476 yards and 46 touchdowns last season and was voted the NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

NFL.com news: Report: Saints offered Brees NFL's richest deal; QB declined

Maybe Drew is looking for some hush money. I truly hope that is not the case. I'm wondering what Spanola is thinking right now. I wonder what Drew & Payton are thinking right now. What a delima this is and with hosting the superbowl in 2013, what kind of impact will this have on the city, fans & the team. So much for being a classy organization.

good point NOLA54 ( I'm wondering what Spanola is thinking right now.) Thinking WTF am I getting myself into.

Yeah BUT...just as we have just been made aware of this bs, this crap has been happening forever. I highly doubt this will be something new to Spags. I wouldn't worry much about that. The media is making this out to be worse than it really is.

I hate the Media ! I really do.

Greedy !

This smells of Gregg Williams' revenge. "Gregg Williams has issued a public apology for organizing a system with the New Orleans Saints that paid bounties to defensive players for big hits on opponents and big plays." Give me an f-ing break. Williams has never felt sorry for a damn thing in his life. So he admits to organizing it, he better damn well suffer the stiffest penalty. Period.

I don't think he admits to being the organizer of the activity - he was only talking about "participating" in the activity.

That's what stinks about that "apology" GW made - he doesn't really take responsibility over the "performance system," even though it seems that he has implemented the same system at his previous places of employment.

I agree. He GW didn't right out and say that he organized it. That was a statement by the sports writer. That said, there were quotes from players referencing that Williams had the same sysetm in Washington.

"But the bounty system didn't just take place in New Orleans under Williams. Mark Maske of the Washington Post reported later on Friday that Williams had a similar program when he was the defensive coordinator with the Washington Redskins."

Also,

"Former defensive end Philip Daniels was one of four players -- Daniels being the only one to go on the record -- who told the Post that the Williams’s scoring system gave special credit for "kill shots" that knocked the opposing team's star players out of the game."

So, GW ran a bounty system while at other teams but didn't think it was the right thing to do in NO and is really sorry that he didn't put a stop to it. The guy is an absolute POS.