Brees’ franchise tender comes in at $16.371 million
 

Saints quarterback Drew Brees wants a long-term deal. But if he decides at some point to accept the one-year exclusive franchise tender, Brees will receive $16.371 million for 2012.

Or, in other words, $1.023 million per game.

The number reflects the average of the five highest-paid players at the quarterback position for the current year. (For non-exclusive franchise tenders, the average is based on the prior year.)

Restructurings of contracts by quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, and Tom Brady drove down the average. Peyton Manning’s $18 million payout from the Broncos in 2012 helped boost the number a bit, even though the cap number is lower than what it would have been if Manning hadn’t been cut by the Colts.

If the Saints decide to go year-to-year with Brees, he’ll be entitled to $19.645 million in 2013 (i.e., 120 percent of his 2012 pay) and a whopping $28.289 million in 2014 (144 percent of his 2013 pay).

That’s a total of $64.3 million over three years. Thus, if Brees currently is looking for an average payout of more than $21.43 million per year over the next three years (which equates to $64.3 million over three years), it makes no financial sense for the Saints to offer him a long-term deal.


Brees

Florio is dim at best. Not "financialy"? Try selling Jerseys with Daniel on the back. Try making the playoffs with out Brees. Try filling the Super Dome with out Brees. Try doing a lot of things with out Brees on the team.

That article does not factor where the team is if Brees walks and goes to another team.

This article is so dumb, I HAD to comment. Brees is not looking for just more money. He wants long term security. A long term deal with a nice signing bonus, in the event that he gets hurt and the Saints decide(Like the Chargers did) to part ways with him. He would never stay around for that 2nd or 3rd Franchise tender. People get paid to write this crap? I missed my calling.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3007/floriocrow.gif

I could while away the hours, conferring with the flowers...

Brees will never sit.

Of course not. Because real men stand. :banana:

We've offered him just that...

TWICE!!!

He wants to prison-rape our Saints long term, it so obvious.

He wants to be paid well.......Nicks had to leave to get that........The FO assigns a value to a player and will not over pay for a player. Not yet anyway.

Leave enough to sign the complimentary players to win another championship and Drew will get all the endorsements and Oprah time he and family will need...

Wow were still doing this.

My head hurts......can't someone please just make it go away. "If's and butts were candy and nuts it'd be christmas everyday." No more Brees and contract speculation... I'm going golfing, at least there I can drink in peace. No more contract talk, sign a deal or not, don't give two sh--s...time to move on. Sorry, I just hate waken up everyday looking for some news on Brees, good, bad or indifferent. Done! I need a tumbler of Johnnie Blue!

Yeah Q...A year and a half later we're still doing this...
Sucks don't it?


Oh yes FF, he'll sit if he's not satisfied. I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, he'll sit. Then he'll demand to be traded next year.

I'd tag him next year too, just as the CBA he fought tooth and nail for allows us to.

Im so sick of this im bout to throw up if i don't read anything else but a "Drew Brees is signed" article!.. I have gone as far as avoiding anything that mentions "Drew Brees" up to this point, but now with the other crap out of the way i have gone back into the shadow's of these discussions.

Tag him the next 2 years as the CBA states. So for the next 3 years Brees can only play football for the Saints and no one else. So all this talk about Brees sitting or playing for someone else is BS. He would be 36 years old before he could sign on another team. Condon wants to play hardball, I expect nothing less from Loomis! $18 million a year is more than fair!

Want to read a Drew Brees has signed article as well. Really getting sick of this too.

Just make him meet us in the middle at $20 milion/year. Everybody will be happy & he'll still be the highest paid QB.

... this is what I don't understand about the whole deal, Brees has been offered a couple pretty good contracts, sign one already! ... I'm all for a guy getting what he's worth and negotiating the best deal, but at $64.3mil for three years, does it matter if you get a long term contract? I mean, take the money, play three seasons & retire to the broadcast booth for crissake ... just sign already!

I guess I'm going to get the a-hole tag today because I'm going to play Tom Condon:

Peyton Manning has not played in more than a year. He has a documented injury that could by all accounts end his career. He just signed a 5 year $96 million that pays essentially a flat $20 a year. And BTW he's 36.

My guy is 3 years younger. My guy just had the best season that an NFL QB has EVER HAD! I repeat EVER HAD! The last 5 years has been the best 5 year stretch in the history of the NFL for a QB. Your franchise won its first SB ever with my guy at the helm.

So exactly why should my guy take a back seat to a QB who is older and injured? Why should we settle for a shorter contract? My guy wants to retire here in New Orleans. He wants the well deserved security and respect that should be afforded to what is by all accounts a HOF QB at the prime of his career.

Let's find a way to get this done so we can get back to the business of winning championships. 5 years, $115 million, with $75 million frontloaded in the first three years frankly isn't too much to ask. My guy is the best QB in the NFL and can likely be the best QB in the history of the NFL if we can get this done.

End presentation.

SFIAH

The only problem is that you don't know what was offered and what was requested.

Brees may have been low-balled, then again he may have been offered more than any player in NFL history.

My guess is that we wanted it structured so that he gets a huge jump in 2014 when the salary cap rises substantially. That keeps us cap friendly for 2012 and 2013.
Tom probably said NFW, we want it now.

That's fair, I understand and have no problem with Brees getting paid what he's worth or based on his performance, but as I've browsed the board the past 3-4 months, I've seen he's been offered a couple pretty impressive contracts that would have made him the highest paid player in the NFL at the time? And now there's the whole franchise-tag-thing to contend with ... I just can't figure out what he's waiting on, unless they're waiting to see how much salary cap will be freed up due to player suspensions/penalties so they can offer Drew more. ?

Maybe I'm naive and can't relate to the problems of the-rich-and-famous-athlete types, but how much more then $18mil-or-so a year do you need before you have the well-deserved security & respect you feel should be afforded you? It's been beat to death, I know, I'm just transitioning over to the, "like Drew as a player and want to see him sign with NO, but this has been dragging out too long and not so much supporting his contract fight anymore" side.

While I can't see Brees playing for anyone other then New Orleans, I'm starting to think the only thing that will keep Drew from retiring a Saint is Drew, or Tom Condon, whoever is running that show, and a viable option for Brees (at 33) is to sign a three year contract, retire a Saint at age 36 and field offers from the networks, all of which would be glad to have him on their broadcast teams ... now that's a plan for security & respect, IMO.

Slo...

Its not a question of "need", obviously Drews "ends are meeting". Besides the great post by SFIAH, I am sure there is some "lime light" that the Saints/Drew/Condon want in the form of Highest paid player. Drews contract does not just effect Drew, Condon, Saints. It will effect each and every other QB that gets hits with a franchise tag also....

There is a business game behind the football game. The higher Drews contract is, the farther north the franchise tag goes... would be a good chess move to make another QB for another team unaffordable because the FT went up .:-)

I am not entirely sure the debate at this point is value, I think it is loading...

Yeah, "it's just good business" and I can see the 'fighting the franchise tag' angle ... I'll be glad when it's over and it can be confirmed what the holdup was ... it's not even my QB and it's stressing me out, :lol:.

The public may never know the real reason for the hold up. Once it is signed I doubt anyone will care...

Totally agree with that 626. Once Drew signs.... who cares about the how's, the why's or the how much.

I just want to know he is signed and will be here until he retires.

It always comes back to Tom Condon, doesn't it?!?

Of course it always comes back to the agent. The agent's job is to get their client the best deal to be had. From his perspective, Condon is smelling like roses. By waiting he got one client, Carl Nicks, the richest deal for a guard ever. By waiting, Manning got signed to a deal that's virtually $20 million, setting a QB bar for an older injured QB as opposed to his client. By waiting, everyone got to see the guaranteed $53 million that Calvin Johnson signed for. From a pure business standpoint, by waiting, Condon has honestly made that $23 million/year not look ridiculous.

So of course it always comes back to agent. If there were no agent in the picture, Drew probably would have signed last year, or during the year.

Getting the best deal for his client is his job. And looking at his track record, he's very very good at it.

I still predict the final numbers will come in between $21 and $22 million/year with $60+ million guaranteed, virtually guaranteeing that Drew retires a Saint. But it's going to take some work and some time to get there.

SFIAH

I have to very respectfully disagree with that statement. I don't believe it is possible to have the best season that any QB ever had and have that season end with less than a Lombardi. If it were true, then people could realistically claim that Marino was the best QB to ever play the game. EVER!!!

They Offerd to make him the higest paid player in the league. He trun it down. 5 million dollars apart. Ok will see.

What you are saying is undoubtedly what Tom Condon has been preaching about. But if you were Tom Condon and I were Mickey Loomis, this is what I'd say to you:

"It's not our fault the Broncos over paid, and in the process, risked mortgaging their future for one guy who even if he bounces back, is too old to build a franchise around. He might have three good years in him. But we have a great team assembled here around Drew Brees, and in order to keep this thing intact, we simply cannot afford what you are asking. That said, of course we want Drew, and that is why we've offered him a deal that would make him the highest paid quarterback ever."

I'm tired of players getting caught up in trying to compete with the market. You are being offered mega millions, to go along with the 60 somethin' million you just made on your previous contract. I don't want to hear that your average salary isn't as high in the first three years... all that means is that it will skyrocket in the next 2-3 years. So you're going to get all of that money eventually, unless you die. And if you die, what do you plan on doing with all that money?

I know this might sound like I'm hating on Drew, but I'm not. I still think he's a good guy, and a great leader on the field. But we need his off field leadership right now, and he's nowhere to be seen. We're not talking about asking your boss a raise from 10.50 an hour, to 11.25 and being told that's too much. So please, spare me the generic "you wouldn't be happy if your boss didn't pay you what you deserve" excuse. These are millionaires whining about what equates to a child saying his ice cream cone wasn't as big as the other kids'.

So, that would be an annual cap hit of about $25M for the first 3 years, because he (Condon & Brees) would undoubtedly want it all to be guaranteed money, which is as much as they've said?

How could the Saints keep the rest of the team on the competitive level it is at the moment with a $25M cap hit for - admittedly the most important, but nevertheless - a single player?

I'd be OK with that figure if the cap was about $10 to $15 million more than it is at the moment, but since there's some disagreement about whether the cap is going to chance with the new TV deals - $25M is too much.

And I agree with you burningmetal, the Broncos way over paid for Manning and it's ridiculous that these players feel automatically deserving of the same salary - and a little more - when another guy signs a big contract.

I have been wondering if the cap will move up much at all.I know that the new TV deals means alot more money into the leagues coffers but with the upcoming court cases by the ex players i could see the league trying to stockpile money incase the case goes against them.

I originally threw out a hypothetical 5/yr $115 million with $75 million in the first three years.

Not exactly. That would include the signing bonus, which is spread over all 5 years. So the cap hit will come in lower.

I think ya'll think that the Saints should pay this. I don't. But I do want you to understand that the agent asking for this isn't really all that unreasonable. It's like all negotiations: ask high (Brees/Condon) and offer low(Saints) then find a way to meet in the middle.

BTW whether or not the Broncos overpaid is irrelevant. Manning's deal and Johnson's deal provide a framework for negotiation, overpriced or not.

The Saints also have a framework specified by the francise tag. It's $64.5 million over three years, then their franchise QB walks away scott free, and most likely very PO'ed. That's $64.5 million in cash, with no deferral to the cap. Brees doesn't want this because there's no long term security. The Saints don't want it because there's no flexibility in the structure and pretty much a guarantees that after that 3 year windows, Brees is gone.

So both have skin in the game. The $18 million/yr offer doesn't make a whole lot of sense now. Brees of course wants his dollars guaranteed and frontloaded so that injury or decline (I'm not sure that's possible, but you never know) doesn't jeopardize the total value of the contract. The Saints need cost stability and the flexibility to improve the team. Both have skin in the game.

This is why it's not going to be an instant process even though that's what the fanbase wants. I reiterate that after this is all over, everyone is on the same team again. So in the end both sides will get some of what they want, and have to give up some of what they want too. The objective is to to walk away with both sides satisfied that the best deal to be had was made.

They are just not there yet.

SFIAH

I know it was a hypothetical number that you threw out, and that's why I also I added the word "about" into the mix, but mayhap I should've been more clear about that.

Still, signing bonuses + other bonuses are all nice and well, but Brees' side stated that they wanted a heavily frontloaded contract with mostly guaranteed money.

Continuing on from that basis, it's impossible - at least to my understanding - to have all those things and still construct a "cap friendly" contract with a high overall worth.

The reason why Brees wants such a contract is because he knows that the odds are that he might not see year 4 and 5 of his future contract, and therefore, high base salaries in those years won't make him any difference.

Similarly, even though the signing bonus counts on incrementally towards the annual cap figure throughout the whole contract, a high signing bonus will probably not cut it. I fear that the Saints will need to agree to a high base salary as well, which will decrease quite rapidly towards the years 4 and 5, so that Brees will be able to "cash in" a very high percentage of the total worth of the contract within the first 3 years.



And I do understand the rest of the points you made, and I do understand how comparables work in the sports' contract world, whether it's determining a tag's worth or the value of a contract in arbitration, but what I was referring to in my show of support for burningmetal's point was that I am against the business of how they (all sides, but mainly the agents) do it in a more general sense.

The point about Manning's contract was also that it puts the Broncos' franchise in a tough situation, because if Manning doesn't work out - they'll be running Elway out of town for mortgaging their franchise over one player.

I think Brees is a better QB than Manning and definitely in a better health state, but that can all change with one play on the field, and I don't want to see the Saints' franchise be "all-in" because of a single player.

To conclude, I understand the stance Brees is taking and the reasons behind it, but I also understand the franchise's stance and reasons - when it boils down to it I honestly would be willing to see Brees go if it meant that the best interest of the franchise as a whole was being served by not agreeing to his side's demands.

And if it comes down to it, they can "make" him play under the tag for the next two years (the 3rd year would be too costly in my opinion) while finding a young QB to take his place in 2014.

Drew you better get in camp boy. My man Pat Witt is here to take your job. Lets go YAlE Man !