papz

There have been a lot of contract restructurings this offseason, especially with the Saints. Is that something that in the coming years a lot of teams and executives are going to take as an approach?

“Yes, everybody is up against the cap. Everybody wants to be able to be as competitive as possible. In order to do that, you’re going to have to pay to keep certain players and you’re going to want to build your team as best as you can with the amount of money that you have, and there is a cap on that. You’re trying to fit as many talented players, and as many players as you want to keep, on your team as you can that is within the cap. Inevitably, every team can’t just go out there and spend as much as they want, this isn’t the New York Yankees in baseball, so everybody has that challenge. Every general manager has that challenge. Just about every year a team has to sit there and look at their roster and say where can we trim the fat so-to-speak here and there in order to get to a place where we can sign the free agents that we want to sign or keep the guys that we want to keep. You just kind of anticipate how that is going to affect you in the future. I think there are different ways to restructure a contract too. When you hear the term restructure, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you took less money, it just means that the maybe the money is coming to you now in a different form. Maybe it’s not salary, maybe it has been switched to signing bonus and now it’s been prorated over the rest of your contract so you’re cap number is lessened this year but maybe it causes it to go up next year of the following year. It’s very strategic and I think Mickey Loomis is one of the best in the business when it comes to that kind of thing, making sure that we’re able to keep the guys that we want to keep while at the same time being within the cap and remaining extremely competitive.”

Do athletes get paid too much money?

“Yes, we probably do. Unless you’re finding a cure for cancer or creating world peace, I don’t know if anybody deserves to get that much money. That’s the industry that we’re in. You could probably say the same for actors, actresses and entertainers. We’re in the entertainment industry and business is business and there is a market. The market establishes what you get paid.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Joe Flacco jumped me. I’m sure that, maybe it’s Aaron Rodgers, maybe it’s somebody else, is going leap-frog Joe Flacco and the trend is going to continue in that direction as our game continues to grow and the popularity continues to grow. That doesn’t surprise me.”

Is there more of an eagerness to start this offseason program due to what has happened the last twelve months or so with the Saints?

“Absolutely. We’re all chomping at the bit. (We’re) Obviously excited to have Coach Payton back, just excited to get back to work really. I always look forward to that downtime with the family, and I’ve taken full advantage of it this month or so, but I cannot wait to get back to work when the time comes.”

Read more: Drew Brees: "We're All Chomping at the Bit"

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