Brees "close" to signing long-term deal.
 

Saints owner Tom Benson and QB Drew Brees to meet next week. They're close to a deal according to Adam Schefter via Sportscenter.

https://twitter.com/#!/SportsCenter/...81330886746113

Doesn't look like he'll be at voluntaries Monday, but he'll be getting his deal shortly it looks.

If I'm not mistaken, Saints OTAs don't start until the 21st.

It's Monday.

The stregth and conditioning program starts monday. Actual OTAs don't start officially until May 21st. Because u can't start OTA's until AFTER the draft so your rookies can start as well.

Nothing against the original poster. At all. But I'm so sick of these threads and ready for football to commence.

Again, no disrespect. Thanks for the info.

Alaska

I dont know, Alaska, at this point, false hope is better for me than
no hope.

I think he’ll be signed to a fair deal by next weekend. We need to find a TE and WR to give Brees more weapons.

why cause we lost meach?...we will be ok

I don't agree, he has plenty of weapons already... more than most teams and the Saints' system is capable of extracting the most out of the players available.

I think that they might still end up signing one of their young TEs - Humphrey or Higgings - and be done with it. They would only need to go out and find a higher level TE if Thomas isn't 100%, which he should be.

Meachem's role can be filled by either Morgan or Arrington, and they have Tanner also as another option/ST contributor available to them, so I wouldn't like to see them spend a pick on a WR unless someone high up on their board falls to them.

What about Graham? What about Colston? We've been so loaded that losing a few WR's didn't make much of a dent.

Meachem was not much of a loss. We have everyone else back. Why do we need to find a WR or TE when we are already solid there? Was it a typo for DT or DE??? :-)

A source tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune that unsigned franchise player Drew Brees is "very upset" he won't be able to attend the Saints' offseason program beginning on Monday.

With all due respect to Brees, he could attend if he really wanted by signing his one-year franchise tender. "It is very upsetting to him not being there Monday," the source said. "He wants to be there for his teammates." The Times-Picayune confirms that contract talks "have been practically nonexistent" between Brees and the Saints over the past few weeks.

Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune

Why on earth would he sign, knowing that B&G MUDBUGS III is on April 21st?

That's all included in my piece also, including them as the source for him not attending. Thanks, Pap.

I'm already so sick of this offseason and the draft hasn't even got here yet. :doh:
The preseason needs to hurry up and start!

ESPN keeps reporting how involved Benson is-- pretty busy guy these days. Can't recall last time he was mentioned in contract negotiations

exactly. i thought the same thing... this is a special situation, requiring super special attention.
you nailed it! Drew Brees, in case you didnt get my invite, you are invited. B&G MudBugs III - hosted by the Hou-Dats/Houston / SE TX Chapter of WhoDat Nation @ Skymikes dangerous* but awesome swamphouse, on Old River, TX. (see thread)

*if you are afraid of guns, fire, gators, snakes, mosquitos, heat, gas guzzling trucks, backwoods people, unhealthy food, or anything southern, this party is not for you.

Im gonna lose a lot of respect for him if he doesn't show up. plain and simple. I'll support him when he gets back, but I think I'll look at him a little differently from here on out

Benson to Brees: "Say Drew, can you play point guard too??"

Brees to Benson: " Only if you load the first 3 years of the contract with 26 million a year.....but I'll still probably turn it down because Condon told me to......."

I sort of agreed with you until this morning. On SportsCenter or NFL Network (I was in a hotel, not really sure which I was watching) they showed the tackle where Brees blew out his shoulder.

As someone who has had his shoulder reconstructed and is desperately trying to avoid the same surgery on the other side, I nearly vomited it looked so bad.

I know that playing under the tag had nothing to do with the injury. I also know that playing under the tag now does nothing to increase the odds that he'll have an injury like that again. But if that happened to me the last time I played under a tag, I'd say thanks, but no thanks. (If I was Drew, I mean. If someone offered me $14mm a year to play football right now, I'd be the tackling dummy for that much cash!)

This is also his last chance to get a huge contract. If he signs the tag, he can't hold out any more because he'll be under contract to play. If he gets injured in the weight room at an offseason practice and can't play again, he's effed.

Also, these activities are VERY limited. Weight lifting, conditioning, stuff like that. Coaches can't be on the fields with players, they're not even allowed to use footballs in most workouts!

Real OTAs start next month.

And let's not forget to take into account that The Saints aren't exactly without fault, here. They could have signed Drew to a long term extension before he went out and had arguably, the best year a QB ever had and jacked up his price. Or they could have signed him as soon as they heard stuff was coming down about the Bounty Scandal and Drew's leverage went through the roof. They did neither.

Imagine your job and the following scenario:
1. You've been doing your job exceptionally well for the last 5 years.
2. There is no one available internally or externally who can do your job as well as you.
3. There is a HUGE project coming up where you're expertise is vital.
4. It's annual review time and there are other companies who would practically kill to have you on their staff.

Are you not going to do everything in your power to negotiate the best raise you possibly can?

Would I think MORE highly of him if he went? Probably. But if he doesn't: no big deal...

I hate to be a downer, but he's been close to signing a deal for a year now. I'll believe he's close to signing a deal when there's ink on the paper...even then I'll be a little sceptacle.

Them being "close" isnt close enough.

I agree Sarge! I hear they're close to signing one week and then the next they're not even close, depending on who you're listening to.

I'm not getting my hopes up until Drew puts ink to paper...

And let us not forget that they tried to do exactly that after the 2010 season, but Brees' side turned their offer down, which according to many reports was a very lucrative offer.

All I have to say is Brees has already been offered a contract that would have made him the highest paid person in the NFL. There comes a point when an organization has to throw up their hands and be done with it. I am not suggesting that the Saints should throw up their hand at this point, but seriously, it is getting very close to that point. It looks like Benson is now involved, so we can pretty much assure he will get his 23 mil per year contract.

Drew Brees is definitely an elite QB, but seriously, not at the expense of the supporting crew. Having the best QB in the NFL is not a good thing. Having an up and coming guy who can win games is what you want. Brees at this point is a proven veteran, could seriously sink the Saints into 8-8 type of years for a long time.

Are we there yet? No. Call me when he signs the rest is just talk that I'm tired of hearing.

I have faith they'll get in done. Sunday night.

The problem I have with this way of thinking and I believe Danno brought this up before is that what was the difference in playing in 2011 when that was the last year of your contract vs this year under a franchise tag? In both cases it's a 1 year deal and you can't play the game worried about being injured. And I'm sure even if Drew has a 5 year deal, that there is some type of injury clause that voids the life of the contract or a buyout clause. So his using the last time he played under the tag, he was injured and it didn't go well for him doesn't fly in my book.

I guess it depends. Is the project a lot of fun, something I love doing, for a company I am loyal to, and oh, have I already earned 100 million dollars this decade???

I hope they get him signed soon, but I detest the fact that a player holds a franchise hostage with unrealistic demands - not saying that this is necessarily the case here, but it seems like it anyway.

no doubt, Fin! Without all the details it's hard to blame any one side. But everything we've heard makes it look like it's all Brees/Condons fault

If you want to go there, we can also ask whether your job puts your health and body at risk.

My shoulders hurt every day after my injures, I can't imagine what a pro-athlete feels like after they retire.

As for it being fun, I think it was Michael Jordan who had a great comment on the fact that sports isn't fun for these guys. The pressure they put on themselves to win, the amount of work they have to put in, the stress they're under...it's not fun. Is it more fun than emptying cesspools or being a soldier? Probably. But it's not fun like you or me going to the park on Saturday for a game of touch football.

Finally, what are the benefits to the company for completing the project? Could you, potentially, make your company 5, 10, 25 times your salary back? Why is it okay for the team to make money but not the player?

Also, Ed Werder reported on ESPN today that Brees' camp never requested $23 million dollars. We have no clue what's happening behind the scenes here, I don't think it makes sense to pass judgement on anything until Training Camp opens. If Brees doesn't show there, I'll have issues. Until then, he gets the benefit of the doubt from me...

My birthday is Thursday, Brees, Loomis, Payton. Just sayin'.

I take issue with this. The market determines a man's salary, not how much he can make his owner. If someone can do the job cheaper and the company still make money, then they should go with the lower costs.

How much money a boss makes is irrelevant to how much the employee makes. Markets will correct that.

If anything, to me, this shows that he doesn't deserve the vitriol he seems to have directed at him.

He did right by our team by taking a huge risk playing without a contract last year. Oh, and had, arguably, the best regular season a QB has ever had and, what should have been, two playoff games for us (the second, he won twice before the D blew it just as many times).

Now, he seems to have met the upper limit of his risk tolerance and he has to do what he thinks is right for him and has yet to do anything that hurts the team in doing so.

I've said it before and I will again: if he holds out from Camp, I may start to change my mind. We need him and his leadership on the field this year more than ever...

http://projectunearth.files.wordpres...nal2.jpg?w=580


He was under contract and he wasn't doing the team any favors by completing his contract.

C'mon!

Sign and Trade..

Just joking..