Yea he is 33 but who else is going to get us to the Super Bowl in the next 5 years. If we were to get a 1st given to us and used it to draft a QB it would be 5 years before he was good enough to get us to a Super Bowl anyway, especially since next years draft class is slim for QBs. If we want a SB in the next 5 years the only way we are going to get it is with Brees. After that we can rebuild. Why would we want to start now?

Plus you don't just let a once in a lifetime QB go without a contingency plan. The Colts had Andrew Luck we have nobody. Don't say Chase either because he is not the future here. I could see it happening if we had an idea of where we would pick in the first round and their was a QB that would fit our system or we could build around in the draft, but there is not.

We're not going to be in rebuilding mode for quite awhile; we have young promising players everywhere but QB.

And if our defense improves anything like we all think it will next year, a decent QB could probably get us to the playoffs, where the defense wins...

With that said, I want Drew to be with the team for the rest of his career, but I also don't want to sacrifice the team to sign him for an ungodly amount

The pieces to win a super bowl are in place, RIGHT NOW, the thought of rebuilding is idiocy and ignorant. So, for Drew and the Saints it's in the best interest of both parties to figure this out, which I'm confident they will. The thing everyone needs to ask themselves is this,"Do I want to win in the next 4-5 years? if so, we sign him and be on our way. If we care more about our team than any one player, then let him play under the tag this year and probably move with a different plan moving forward. I doubt if he plays under the tag this year, we tag him again next year. And then accept it. The decision is what does each of us want? I personally want him signed, to satisfy my selfish desires. Sorry.

The way our 1st round picks have gone, we'd be better of signing an UDFA as QB.

I don't think we draft a QB to be our next Brees. Payton will pluck a young FA starter/backup.

And this is why having Brees longterm is key - Brees, unlike many star QB's WILL MENTOR a younger guy.

That in itself is worth having Brees for 5-6 more seasons.

Are you serious? "Taken advantage of"?

It is the front offices job to get Brees as absolutely cheap as possible, and it is Brees's job to get as much money as he can. Negotiations always come down to the wire because both sides have directly conflicting interests.

The front office starts out at 1 and Brees starts out at 10.... No one jumps to 5 off the bat even though both parties know they will probably end up at 5. Each side moves at a very slow pace incrementally hoping the other side will panic and agree to a deal before it reaches the middle.

This exact reason is why not everyone is cut out or can stomach contract negotiations, it is why players have reps that can stomach the game... contract negotiations are a game of chicken to see who turns first.

What Brees KNOWS is that on the open market some team will be eager to pay him 25 mil a year to have a Superbowl winning caliber QB. There are presently ONLY 5 playing in the league that are proven, and none are on the market. There are a lot of teams that are a Drew Brees away from winning a Super Bowl. The 49er's with Brees at QB is a perfect example.

That is a really scary thought... Think of that defense with an elite quarterback, they'd be unstoppable

Wait, we may have the defense this year... :mrgreen: :bng:

And with SF having 20.7M in cap space... Everyone knows they wanted manning.

That could possibly be true, but keep in mind that there are presently no teams with the kind of talent the Saints have assembled around him. Green Bay and maybe New England were the only teams anywhere near our class in terms of offensive production last year, but neither of those teams has the depth of weapons we do. So if Drew is interested in winning, which I think he is, then he would be unwise to walk away from this team.

He's playing hardball now, but if the Saints don't cave first I think he will. No way he's leaving the Saints. So given the Saints cap situation, this is what has a lot of us annoyed that this contract isn't done. Because what the Saints have offered is probably more than they can truly afford without shuffling some existing contracts. Everyone seems to believe the hang up is guaranteed money... Well, guaranteed money is what counts against the cap in the first place. It's up to him whether he wants to win and make good money or be on a mediocre team (or at least a mediocre offense from a personnel standpoint) for slightly more money.

I believe Drew is the best QB in the league, but of all the great quarterbacks in the league, they've all had their success in one system. Nobody knows what any of them would do if they ran a different offense. It's risky for a man at 33 years of age to assume that he could go somewhere else and turn that team around quickly. All the pieces are in place here for him to simply continue his dominance.

July 16 can't get here soon enough to end this one way or the other.