I was going to say something about this yesterday. I keep waiting for this "extension/restructure" and it doesn't appear to be coming. And theres no whispers about it either.

Almost like it never was an issue. I hope Drew isn't asking for too much.

It looks like it's time to review NFL contracts 101. Brees has no obligation to do anything.

Brees is heading into year 5 of a 6 year contract. Large NFL contracts are almost always loaded with guaranteed money early and large salaries late in the contract. The combination of the two constitutes the cap number for each year. Without double-checking I believe that Brees contract was $100 million/6 years with $60 million guaranteed. So the guaranteed money is a $10 million a year cap hit. And with the typical escalation of salary this 2nd to last year is a $20 million salary number.

Restructuring isn't usually about asking for new money. It's usually about converting that un-guaranteed remaining salary into some type of guaranteed bonus money. This often works for both the team and the player. The team gets cap relief by being able to spread out the dollars over multiple years while the player gets guaranteed money and usually gets it immediately.

But this only works if more time is on the table. This type of restructure is almost always an extension in time, which gives more space to spread out the guaranteed money.

It's an open question if either Brees or the Saints really want to extend the contract past 2017. Brees will be 40 by then and the Saints will be on the hook for any guaranteed dollars extended beyond 2017 even if Brees retires.

Brees is now the 3rd upcoming QB heading towards 40 as the longtime starter, along with Manning and Brady. I'm leaving Farve off this list because he bounced around a bit at the end. Denver and New England have handled this is different ways. Denver went with a pay as you go model paying Manning about $20 million a year with no bonus. So they were on the hook for the salary each year with no residual bonus dollars. Brady on the other hand took a flat pay cut in 2013. Dude is earning about $12million/year below his true worth. Tom Brady is the NFL's most Underpaid Player | The MMQB with Peter King outlines that restructure which seeming makes no sense.

The Saints are not going to get either of these models. In the end they really only have 3 options:

1. Extend the years for Brees which ups the guaranteed dollars and extends new money into years that likely Brees will not be here.

2. Stay the course and eat the rest of the current contract for 2016 and 2017. But that's going to be $30+ million cap hits each year.

3. Cut Brees before the 2016 season and strike out in a new rebuilding direction now. The cap hit over the next two years is $20 million instead of $60+ million. But of course the team no longer has their franchise QB.

Which is why all Brees needs to do this nothing, which ends up being scenario #2 above.

It's not a matter of Brees asking for too much. It's a matter of how much are the Saints willing to invest to move the scenario from #2 to #1? Also couple that with the fact that even at 40, some NFL team would be willing to pay Brees $22-$25 million a year for a three year contract with virtually all the dollars guaranteed. This means that the Saints not only have to contend with the current dollars on the table, but the $60-$75 million of future dollars from 2018-2020 too.

So this is going to take a while. The Saints have to figure out what they are willing to invest. Then Brees has to decide if it's enough to pull the trigger.

I'd like to point out that the contract system worked exactly the way it's supposed to. If the player isn't living up to a contract then you cut them halfway through. If they out perform it all the way to the back end, then the team has to either heavily incentivize restructuring, eat the heavy backload, or cut the player loose.

Brees is at worst the #3 QB in this league. So thinking that he's going to take a $30-$40 million pay cut, like Brady bizarrely did to help out the Saints is wishful thinking at best. Also I'd like to point out that Brees really has done two discount contracts with the Saints already. The original 6 year $60 million was a bargain, while the 6 year $100 million, even with the $60 million guaranteed money, is really a bargain in today's environment. So paying him $20 million this year really isn't too much a stretch. It's just that coupled with the $10 million cap hit from the guaranteed dollars that it seems out of whack.

SFIAH