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What we know about Drew Brees is that he will play for the New Orleans Saints in 2018. Yes, the final three years of his contract will automatically void on March 14, which would make him an unrestricted free agent and the hottest commodity on the market.

But Brees has said repeatedly that he has no interest in leaving New Orleans, the Saints are poised to enter 2018 as one of the favorites in the NFC and there’s no reason to think the quarterback has any interest in testing the market. He’s certain to be a Saint for 2018 and probably for life.



What we don’t know about Brees is how he and the Saints will get his contract to where it needs to be for this to happen. They can’t simply do nothing. If they do nothing, those final three contract years void at the start of the new league year on March 14, and the Saints will be stuck with $18 million worth of signing bonus prorated on this year’s salary cap in addition to whatever salary they end up paying Brees for 2018. This would be a crusher, and New Orleans can’t let it happen, which is why March 14 is a very real deadline for Brees and the Saints to come to agreement on some kind of new contract.

What will that contract look like? Well, that’s another thing we don’t know. To this point, Brees and the Saints have not had any serious discussions about it, which is probably because the Saints don’t fear him leaving. But at some point in the next month, they must. So here are some questions and answers about the Brees situation and where it’s headed:

What was that you said before about $18 million?

Yeah, this is NFL salary-cap math. Prior to the 2016 season, the Saints and Brees did a new contract that was technically a five-year deal even though it was really only a two-year deal. That deal included a $30 million signing bonus, and NFL rules allow teams to prorate signing bonus money over the life of the deal, up to five years. So, since 30 divided by five is six, the Saints have to count only $6 million of Brees’ signing bonus each year of the “five-year deal.” But the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons are just “dummy” years, added onto the contract solely for the purpose of salary-cap proration.

If nothing is done to the contract, all three of those years automatically void on March 14, and by rule, all of the remaining $18 million of salary-cap proration would accelerate onto this year’s cap. Once again, the Saints would be stuck with that charge before they even signed Brees. So if they signed him for, say, one year and $28 million, his salary-cap charge this year would be $46 million, which obviously would be way too much.

OK, so can’t they just agree that this year won’t void, and keep the contract as is otherwise?

Sure, they could. If they did that, Brees would be scheduled to earn a $22 million salary this year, and the cap charge would be $28 million ($22 million salary plus $6 million of the signing bonus). The Saints could carry that, for sure, and just delay this decision by a year. The problem is, Brees would have to agree to that alteration, and he wouldn’t be getting anything out of it. Even as his insistence that he doesn’t want to go anywhere hurts his negotiation leverage, that March 14 deadline creates some. The Saints don’t want to get hit with that $18 million cap charge.

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QBREES9

A deal will get done.

RailBoss

With all the pieces in place, I would strongly agree.

Crusader

Brees has earned something like $100M so far with the Saints and add to that endorsements. He don't need a big payday "to secure his kids future" or whatever lame term is generally used.
Its time for him to show whats more important, money or winning. If he cares about winning he agrees to a decent contract that leaves room for some FAs.

SaintFanInATLHELL

It's well north of $200 million. His 2006 contract was for $60 million. He earned all that money. The second in 2012 was for $100 million. He earned that money too. The last extension was just shy of $25 effectively for one year.

I believe that he has done that all along. And Brees has earned every penny of each of his contracts over the last dozen years.

If Brees really wanted to screw the Saints, all he'd have to do is not sign by March 14th. That puts the Saints $18 million in the hole, no matter what, with no QB.

Each and every time his contract comes up it plays out the same way. Fans call for him to take a pay cut. The extension is fair and at market value. Brees outplays the dollars by virtually every measure. And yet each and every time it comes up, fans are still calling for the guy to take a pay cut "for the team."

It's ridiculuous. Fortunately Benson, Loomis, Payton, and Brees don't listen to the catcalls. They sit down, work out something fair, and keep it moving.

Kirk Cousins is likely to have an average long term contract that is near or above $30 million per year with a signing bonus that's approaching $100 million. This is for a guy that has essentially won nothing, took Washington for all the dollars he could, and then walked away.

Brees is here. He's invested. He essentially functions as a part of ownership and management of the Saints at this point. Yet once again, the calls for the guy not to be paid what he's worth comes a calling.

I'm smart enough to know that this era in Saints history is special. We'll likely never see another one like Brees in our lifetime in a Saints uniform. And yet to see the undervaluing of his work, it's sad.

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.

Garry42

Completely agree. The pundits are saying a new deal is a forgone conclusion, but something tells me this will be more difficult than expected. I think a deal will get done, but there will be some posturing and tough negotiations along the way. I don't think Drew is going to make this easy on the Saints, despite what he says in the media. Drew has always put himself first....nothing really wrong with that, but it doesn't make negotiations smooth. JMHO

SmashMouth

Redskins screwed the pooch on Cousins. They did not have the balls early on to start Cousins over RG3. Still they could have done the right thing... instead they've traded for Alex Smith.

Good for Cousins for getting is due contract.

If Brees were not as sharp and in a clear significant decline, Cousins would be a strong candidate as his successor. We'll have Brees probably three more years.

Beastmode

What? He will play for market value. If someone offers him more he has the option to move. No different from any other job. And it doesn't matter how much he makes just like any other job. How many players have taken a pay cut in the NFL to bring in more talent? The odds of that happening are a fraction of 1%. If it happens I will eat crow though but I will eat it with those odds.

I believe he will stay at market value.

saintsfan1976

Well said SFIAH.

K Major

Well stated & I agree. Mr. Brees has earned every single dime.