SmashMouth

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."



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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QBREES9

Pay Da man.

spkb25

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

The Dude

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.

ScottF

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

spkb25

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

AsylumGuido

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.

SaintFanInATLHELL

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

Super Bowl Championships: New Orleans Saints:1, Carolina:0, Atlanta Chokers: STILL ZERO

Only Atlanta choked in an unchokable situation... Life is definitely good.

ScottF

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.

SaintFanInATLHELL

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

Super Bowl Championships: New Orleans Saints:1, Carolina:0, Atlanta Chokers: STILL ZERO

Only Atlanta choked in an unchokable situation... Life is definitely good.