'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

New Orleans Saints offensive lineman Zach Strief referred to Drew Brees as a "quarterbacking robot" who deserves more than any other player to be taken care of financially, he said in a SiriusXM radio interview Sunday.

"Nobody deserves to be paid and to be compensated more than him," Strief said. "No one puts in more time. Nobody is more important to this team and this locker room. To us, as players, there's nobody that we feel is more important to take care of than that guy. Drew's contract will get done. Obviously with a guy that valuable, that contract takes time."

http://image.nola.com/home/nola-medi...ca064b076e.jpg

The Saints and Brees have held intermittent talks about extending a five-year, $100 million contract that will expire after the 2016 season.

Strief referred to Brees as a "quarterbacking robot" for the consistency in his weekly preparation. Strief said he could tell where Brees will be at any given moment during the week.

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Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Pay Da man.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Yep. I'm all about it. We are going to be in great shape as far as the cap goes. Give him a front loaded contract now.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Um, hey Zach, Northwestern grad... number 9 already is "paid and compensated" more than everyone else

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

There are 9 QB's ahead of him in the NFL, but he will get paid, no doubt. He is going to end up with about 22-25m

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

yep, pay him what he deserves. He played out this contract, now pay him for the next. We will

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

No, not in relation to others at his position across the league. One can argue he is vastly underpaid. How soon we forget the old days. Buddy D and several hundred Saints fans wore paper bags on their heads in 1980-81 as a protest against management for refusing to spend competitive dollars on players. I personally would rather not return to those times and hope the team does right and pays Brees what he is worth.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Brees needs to get the contract done before the season starts. If he waits and regresses this year Condon will play hell getting a good deal and it won't be a pretty end.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

I can't imagine him regressing at this point when he has been looking as good as ever and is reportedly in OTA's as perhaps the best conditioned player on the roster. One thing to remember, Condon is also Peyton Manning's agent and he twice had Manning play out his contract before signing a new one with the Colts. Besides, Condon and Loomis supposedly have a very good relationship and that matters a lot in these circumstances.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

"Chicken! Fight like a robot!"

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Can't see Brees slowing down any time soon. Now or after the season Brees will get 20-25 mil a year over 3 or 4 years.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Scott,

That is true to a degree. 5 years ago it was the largest contract in NFL history. But that 5 years is up and once again it's time to fish or cut bait.

All the evidence over the last 5 years, including last year, indicates that Brees is a top 3 NFL QB.

Quarterbacks are the highest paid players in the NFL. According to this site:

NFL's richest contracts for 2015 | NFL.com

out of the top 17 contracts, only 2 were not QBs. The highest non QB player was Suh at #10. And according to these 2016 averages:

NFL Salary Rankings | Spotrac

Brees is 10th with 9 QBs ahead of him. Now honestly, does anyone think that all of the 9 QBs ahead of Brees are deserving of more dollars? Three of them (Rivers, Ryan, Newton) do not even have a SuperBowl Ring. However, each and every one of them has signed a new contract or extension since Brees did in 2012.

Contract negotiation is an adversarial process. Each side wants to maximize the contract benefit. And for the most part it's a zero sum game, so whatever is added to one side takes something away from the other.

What Strief is saying, I believe, is that Brees' value to the organization is worth the market value of the top 2 or 3 QBs currently in the NFL. That number is hovering just about $22 million a year. And if Brees is allowed on the open market, it'll likely jump to $25 million easily IMHO. I mean who was the last healthy NFL QB to lead the league in passing and then change teams?

I also have the opinion that many think that the numbers are eye popping and extravagant. But the vast wealth of the NFL really belies that argument. The NFL is pulling in $12+ billion in revenue:

NFL revenue: Here comes another record season - Sep. 10, 2015

according to the terms of the current CBA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation...2011_agreement

nearly half that revenue must be distributed to the players. That's $6+ billion a year distributed among no more that 2500 people. The CBA also specifies that at least 89% of the salary cap average over a 4 year rolling period must be distributed to the players. In short, the money is both there and it has to be paid out. And most importantly, if the Saints choose not to pay, which is certainly their right not to do, that there are at least a dozen teams in the NFL that would likely have both the capability and desire to cash in. This is what I keep saying when I point out that the market dictates the price point, not the player or his agent.

Finally considering the fact that the 7 QBs on the top 10 of that 2016 list have won 12 of the last 15 Superbowls (exceptions of 2 for Peyton Manning, and Brad Johnson is 2003 with the Bucs), I feel it is difficult to overstate the value of a top flight QB in this league.

I'm just suggesting take it in context. Brees' run the last 10 years has to be ranked in the top 2-3 runs in NFL history or that length. Qbs like that simply do not fall off trees. I believe that Stief is saying, and I agree, that Brees deserves each and every penny he is paid to lead one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history.

SFIAH

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Looking at the numbers, the range is likely to be $22-25 million.

SFIAH

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

It's the guaranteed money for an older player that I have a problem with. Make it an incentive driven contract for the last couple of years and earn the money Drew! What's not fair about that?

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

What is not fair about that is that the top QB's are all getting deals with greater and greater percentages of guarantees. Either the Saints give him the contract he completely deserves or he will definitely get it elsewhere leaving the Saints totally high and dry with another decade of 4-12, 3-13, maybe 5-11 campaigns. Now why in the hell would we ever want that as fans?

But all of this is moot, because giving Brees the contract he deserves will not hamper the Saints one iota given the current landscape of the cap in the NFL. Therefore, whatever he gets paid shouldn't matter to us as fans at all. It is meaningless.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Yes-
the newer contracts will continue to set the bar, just as Brees' did 4 years ago (as did a Vikings DB yesterday). Two points though- all of the QB's 1-9 are younger, and the dollar difference between 1-10 is only $2.2 million per year.
Should the oldest guy on the list get $25 m per, just because he is up for a new contract? Condon would say yes, but he also has Eli and Ryan to worry about.

I would be thrilled if Brees signed for 3-4 years at $23 million per, but I do not see him doing that.
He is a stat guy, and I expect the salary stat means a lot to him. Whether the money does or not, none of us know.

Your points on revenue sharing and the cap are spot-on. I am advocate of a significantly higher cap and roster expansion. My caveat would be a position cap as well, just to insure that a $500,000 guy isn't snapping the ball to a $50,000,000 guy.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

IMHO it's not about fair. I feel safe saying as a fact that no QB in NFL history has had a run in the last 10 years that Brees has had. Brees could retire today and go into the HOF. And his last year was just as good as many of the others.

So, in my opinion, he has nothing to prove. And more importantly, it is likely that none of the rest of the teams in the NFL that are interested in his services will ask him to prove anything.

Prove it contracts are for the underperforming or the injured. RG3 in Cleveland is an example. The current contract for Nick Fairly is an example.

Brees is neither In my opinion it would be an insult to offer him one. And I believe that if such an insulting contract were offered, Brees would laugh and walk away, as he should.

I will keep saying not to get it twisted and think there is a significant value to being a part of the Saints organization. That value belongs to us as fans. Players don't have that luxury. Ask Jimmy Graham or Kenny Stills about that. Here one day as a Saint, gone the next. I have been a Saints fan for more than 40 years. I'll die a Saints fan. I can afford to be invested. But I also understand that players cannot because it is a professional and business situation for them.

So while I think that you feel that "Brees should take a prove it contract in order to remain a Saint." makes sense to you, in the reality of the NFL as a business and a profession, it makes absolutely no sense. It is likely that Brees' next contract will be his last as a professional football player. As with each and every contract that every player signs, they need to maximize the benefit of that contract because there is no guarantee that they will get another opportunity. And it is almost certainly a fact for Brees.

Who among us would turn down a 20% raise along with a hefty signing bonus just to stay loyal to the current organization we are in? I'd be gone so fast you'd wonder where I went and why the chair is still spinning...

Where Brees is likely to give a bit may be on the years. But it's unlikely there will be a lot of movement on the guaranteed money. So Brees may concede and sign for 3 years for example, whereas on the open market he'd likely be looking for 5 years. He may also concede a balloon salary payment in the last year with essentially all the rest of the money guaranteed and paid in the first two years.

A concession contract may be something like 3 years, $75 million, $50 million guaranteed paid in the first two years. Essentially it's a 2 year contract at $25 million a year with the first two years guaranteed with the Saints having the option to pay Brees for the third year.

But that's Brees conceding in order to stay. The team would be getting a bargain.

SFIAH

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

If would benefit Drew to get the deal done as quickly as possible. Anything can happen between now and the start of next season, anything. Drew stands to lose a lot more by letting the negotiation or should I say no negotiation to drag on. In my opinion of course! lol

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

http://i.imgur.com/rmi5N4B.gif


If he produces as he has been, no harm no foul. I just wonder how the cap handles it if all incentives are met.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Great question!

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

I don't disagree with that assessment. That's the challenge for the Saints. The real problem isn't Condon. The real problem is that there are teams out there that would happily pay it. I keep trying to think of the last time a UFA QB of Brees' caliber was healthy and on the open market. Manning was coming off an injury when released from Indy. Farve had retired then unretired and then traded from Green Bay to the Jets. Does anyone have anything close to an example?

That may be the case. But where is the upside for Brees signing an undervalued contract? The open market is going to be higher.

Why position parity? Tell me about the last center that led his team to a SuperBowl.

SFIAH

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Warner? Jeff George 6X? Steve Young was shopped...
No, no one would have anywhere near the same impact as Brees hitting the market
Osweiler got 18 a year for his 11 career TD's

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Fair has nothing to do with it. It is called leverage. Players get whatever they can leverage. Teams look at value vs production. If a player costs too much they are allowed to walk and get the money somewhere else. We are going to pay the going rate because Drew has the leverage to get the going rate. He will either get it from us or somewhere else.

Drew isn't a player who must prove himself because he has spent 10 years doing that.

In 2015 he played 15 games, many of them hurt:

68.% completion %.
4870 yards
32 TD's
11 Int's

We aren't going to pay him Joe Flacco money?

10 games:
64.4% completion %
2791 yards
14 TD's
12 Int's

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Just curious...

Since Payton was known as a QB guru before we ever hired him as HC, what percentage of Drew's success would you attribute to Coach Sean Payton's coaching and system?

The truth is that no one really knows. Luke freaking McCown looked great in the 1 game Drew missed.

Just throwing that out there.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

System I think has some part, sure, but Drew runs it like he does because of his work ethic.

You're right, hard to tell, but stick Luke in there prolonged and let teams get substantial film on him and it might not go so hott

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

OMG! One of my first games on Atari. Loved that game.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Coach calls all of the offensive plays and according to T-REX all of the defensive ones too. I would think he has a lot to do with Drew's success

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

If Brees would hit the market could he be as good in their system as he is in Paytons? Some teams might over pay but say a Cleveland goes for broke and he ends up there? It's Paytons system, Brees is just the triggerman( a good one) but when Paytons done with him Payton will have another pulling the trigger. On Osweller, he didn't play all that bad, I'm going to see if Elway let one get by him.

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Injured
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_George

Indianapolis: "George threw 46 interceptions to 41 touchdowns and lost 35 of his 49 career starts as a Colt; his only winning season with the Colts was 1992, where he played ten games and threw 15 interceptions to seven touchdowns. Before the 1993 season, he refused to report to training camp and only returned to the team when Jim Irsay made it clear that George would have to pay a huge penalty fee for breach of contract if he didn't get back to work. The Colts traded him to the Atlanta Falcons after the 1993 season."

Atlanta: "George got into a heated argument on the sidelines with then-Falcons coach June Jones, all of which was caught on camera for a national television audience. Jones suspended George for the remainder of the 1996 season and Atlanta dealt George to the Oakland Raiders after the season. It was later confirmed that George blamed team management for his problems and felt Jones betrayed him by not standing up to this alleged mistreatment... George's record with the Falcons was 16-19; he had the best completion percentage (60.5) of his career with 50 touchdowns and 32 interceptions."

This isn't a top 3 QB.
Arguable. But it was a trade proposal, not the open market. Also the bizarre situation of having a HOF 4 time winning SB QB on the roster.
Exactly.

SFIAH

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Absolutely. Brees was a top 5 QB in San Diego.
Two words: Andy Dalton. Andy Dalton is in fact no Drew Brees and look what Hue Jackson has accomplished with him in Cincinnati.
Honestly, I simply do not know how to process this statement. I am flabbergasted.
Not the point. The market pays the guy $18 million a year on a half season and potential. Based on that what is the value of a Hall of Famer?

SFIAH

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

Actually we have a year and half of stats where Payton didn't call plays. IIRC correctly this happened in 2011 and 2012 (Broken leg and suspension). Pete Carmichael called plays for the rest of that season, and the entire season following. The results in total for those two seasons was over 10,000 yards passing and 89 passing TDs.

I will be sad when Drew Brees is gone. Once in a lifetime player.

SFIAH

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

I'll throw my perspective at it this way, Drew is a great quarterback in a great system with Payton being the key...

I see the Saints somewhat as the 49ers were in the 80's, early 90's...

And if we part with Montana (Brees) to go with a Young (Player to be named), I still like this offense's chances of getting us to the final round of the playoffs...

Sure Brees has been the top passer in the NFL for the past five years, but what has our record been?

At the end of the day, I'm a Saints fan and want to see us hoisting the trophy from Goodell's clutches...

With respect to Drew, I don't give a **** who the quarterback is as long as he's not losing games...

And if it's a middle of the pack passer with a balanced run attack, I'm just as happy as we keep our eye on the prize...

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

. Yep! people will realize it when he is gone..never ever will we have a player of his caliber

Re: 'Quarterbacking robot' Drew Brees deserves to get paid, Zach Strief says on radio
 

what does Drew or his salary have to do with us not hosting a trophy? Nothing, you're right. Since the dead money costs more than his salary average- I am pointing at that. Drew is the tenth highest paid QB in the league. He's not stopping us, but bad drafts and stupid contracts are. Drew isn't one of those problems, pay the ****ing man