I can understand your though process, but I can't completely agree with your perception of the issue.

If, as you claim, Brees has left the whole matter of negotiating his contract in the hands of Condon without giving him any guidelines to follow or reserving any oversight over the decisions made - why would Brees make a statement like "I want to see the team's competitiveness preserved" and directly stating that it is important to take into account the signing of other key FAs when negotiating the details of his contract?

I mean, if he couldn't affect the way the actual negotiations proceeded or the details involved, why would he make such a statement, which implied he could in effect do so?

And in what way does what he said counter what is going on? The fact is that even if an $18 million deal per year was agreed upon it would have killed any chance at signing both Nicks and Colston. Now they have a chance with the lower tag amount.

Besides, he can mean what he said but that doesn't mean it was possible.

And in what way does what he said counter what is going on? The fact is that even if an $18 million deal per year was agreed upon it would have killed any chance at signing both Nicks and Colston. Now they have a chance with the lower tag amount.

Besides, he can mean what he said but that doesn't mean it was possible.

Yeah we could have. If we would have signed Brees we could then Tag Knicks. Then make an offer to Colston and if he didn't like it he could leave.

The 14 mil is not even known if thats what it is going to be. It could be between 16 and 18 mil depending on what happens with Manning. If Manning stays a Colt at his current contract, the tag is going to be more than 14 mil. So if thats the case and it happens to get closer to 18, than we would be right back where we wanted to be in the first place. Brees ends up with no security and he has NO ONE to blame but himself.