Saints and Drew Brees remain far apart in negotiations
 

The Saints and Drew Brees remain far apart in their contract negotiations, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

According to Schefter, it doesn't look like Brees' deal is going to get done in 2011. The Saints may have to use the franchise tag to freeze Brees while they negotiate further after the season. Regardless, he's a virtual lock to eventually re-up in New Orleans long term.

Source: ESPN.com

I wish I were a fly on the wall when those conversations take place.

Does anyone know what the problem is? What he's worth is pretty much set in stone. He's a Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP winning quarterback of a consistently contending team. His contract should be equal to Peyton, Brady, Rodgers, Eli and Roethlisberger. Is he asking for more than that or are we offering less?

We have quite a few free agents to sign next year and judging by how close we were to the max salary cap this year (only 2 miliion left) I'm sure we have to do plenty of restructuring of contracts to sign Drew and whom ever else the team wants to keep such as Colston, Nicks, Meachem, Porter and Daniels. With the new CBA the franchise tag isn't worth as much as it used to be so that may not sit well with Drew but I'm confident something will be done by the end of the season.

All I know is that Drew is a "family first" man. He will do whatever it takes to take care and secure his family's future. Even if that includes moving to another team. If we don't pay him, someone else will, and he will take it. He loves New Orleans, but he loved San Diego while he was there, and he will love another city if he goes there. The "powers that be" in the front office better get this figured out and taken care of. We sucked the first 40 years of our existance, partly because of the owners being tight wads and not letting go of the cash it takes to produce a winner. I hope we're not heading back in the same direction.

The problem might be bigger than the Saints and Brees agreeing to a number.

The problem might be what the other guys (like Nicks) want. Hypothetically, Jahri's contract might have inflated Nicks's expectations.

In other words, it might be some of the other players causing the Saints to be unable to move forward right now.

Waiting until the season is over will help the Saints figure out the non-Brees pieces to what is a difficult puzzle.

Just my take, which is worth what you had to pay for it. 0.

Hate to say it..if i was Drew i would break the frikin bank..and if i was the Saints FO ..i would help him bust into that vault...without Drew we would be nowhere ...the man is the Saints

The Saints cannot afford to put all the money in one hat. As soon as you do that, your QB goes down injured. See: Manning and Vick.

Either Drew has the character to be paid handsomely, although not the highest paid QB in the league, or he does not.

How much money does a person need? And no, I'm not liberal. A COMPLETE team cannot give all the money to its QB leaving none for other positions.

We see what happens when all you have is a QB; Colts.

Alaska

Pay Da Man!

My bye week trolling
 

Bills message board: Bills fans willing to pay more for tix if the Bills sign Brees.

Would you pay 20 more $/ticket to sign Brees - Buffalobills.com Message Board

Yeah, and if Brees went ANYWHERE for more money this city would turn on him like a snake.

But we can stop all the talk. He's not going anywhere. He's just going to have to come to the realization that making anyone the highest paid player in the league, as fragile as QB health can be, is a STUPID move on the part of the franchise.

Alaska

Peyton and Brady are Dynasty QB's. We haven't started a Dynasty yet. Colts have been in Playoofs every year Peyton started after his rookie season I believe. I don't think you can shove Brees in with them just even though he's breaking records.

I don't know what Rodgers and Eli are Getting but Brees should get more than them as long as the team doesn't suffer.

Green Bay's team is young which to me means not age but in their contracts. I wouldn't want to be a Green Bay fan when they all are up. There won't be enough Juice to go around.

Really be suprised to see Brees go anywhere until Payton is gone. I think the team knows what they have in Brees and eventually a deal is going to get done. The quarterback position although the most important position is still overpaid in my opinion. It should be the highest paid position if the guy is putting up the numbers but has just gotten to be stupid. Without a supporting cast Brees or anyone else can not do it by himself. I think there should be a cap on every position based on performance and not what some of these OB's have been getting paid.

This is mind blowing. Brees is the best quarterback in ... EVER .. that the Saints have had. It isn't even a question, PAY THE MAN.

I with ya in this line of thinking...i would also offer him a small % of the team...to help get the deal done..

It's actually kind of beneficial to both parties right now, to sort of move slow or wait a bit to get the nitty-gritty job done. If Brees can bring home another Lombardi, Super Bowl MVP, Pro Bowl, etc., then he is clearly at a huge advantage for asking for more money. If there was some kind of actual story here where Drew's agent had snapped the briefcase shut and stormed out of a meeting, shouted "THERE WILL BE NO DEAL" at a crowd of reporters' microphones and then flew on the Redskins' private plane straight to the Redskins facility, and Drew's agent was later seen smoking cigars with them, then I'd be absolutely terrified -- but that's not what's happening here so I'm just being patient.

git er done,

If I remember right, the new CBA says owners have to spend a certain % of the salary cap. I think it's the mid to high 80% range, to keep owners from doing that.

The Saints FO will get a deal done with Brees, and maybe this will be motivation for him to throw less INTs. :D

No...no story like that. The only story here is that his coach moved to Dallas...

Everyone settle down, it will get done.

Is he signed yet?

You pay him Roethelisberger money, at least; even though Brees is the better QB...

Brady, Manning have longer success that why they get more; you slot him between the Burgermeister and the New-Indy Twins...

The problem for both Brees and the Saints is if you pay him market value you have less money to build an actual team around him. So how much is enough? Does Brees need to break the bank or does he realize that other players deserve some of this money.

I think the Saints are smart to drag this out as long as possible since Brees could get hurt at any time which would may hurt his market value. If it comes down to him leaving, then and only then would it make since to pay the man market value.

As we all know, Brees is a special player and deserves a high contract. Brees has to realize that he is protected by Nicks who needs to be paid. A crappy OL would more than likely result in more sacks/injuries that could shorten his career resulting in being cut prematurely.

I'd give him a big signing bonus and try to work a smaller cap number to sign the other players to create a team. Look at what Sean Payton did to lock up Greg Williams.

Pay Da Man ................ you know you will.

As much as i would love for Brees to retire a Saint i know we'll eventually see a day where he is wearing another team's uniform and breaking our hearts, lets hope he doesn't pull a Bobby Hebert on us though.

They paid you too, FF!! BIG SIGNING BONUS .... speaking of which ... where's our ten percent?

I agree with this. I do not see Brees going to the "highest bidder" or leaving for another team that simply offers him $1 more than the Saints; if Brees were to go to another team it would have to be a winning program with a solid offensive line -- I do not see Brees leaving the Saints to go to a 3-13 team with a weak line and take 60 sacks a year and be broken and out of football within two years. I think that is the part of the equation where it's not JUST about the money with Drew. Many football players would gladly take more money and play for a losing program ie Reggie Bush, but Brees is not in that category.

And go to the Falcons? BAH