New Orleans Saints' QB Drew Brees is scheduled to be a free agent on March 13 but the Saints will never let him reach the market. He'll be issued the franchise tag if the two sides can't reach an agreement by this weekend. The deadline to use the franchise tag is Monday, March 5.
Saints, Drew Brees Situation Starting To Get A Little Ugly
But they are entering into dangerous territory, at least as far as the PR game goes. Earlier this week Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Saints GM only wanted to pay Brees as a “very good” not a great quarterback. That, of course, ruffled some feathers.
And now a report comes out -- probably from the team -- that the Saints offered Brees a contract before last season that would have made him the highest paid player in the NFL and he turned it down. Via Larry Holder at CBSSports.com:
The Saints offered Drew Brees a long-term contract before the 2011 season that would have made him the highest-paid player in the NFL -- and Brees and his agent, Tom Condon, turned down the offer, a league source told CBSSports.com. “He (general manager Mickey Loomis) offered Brees the highest-paid contract in NFL history,” the source said. “Does that not equate with great or elite?”
The Saints and Drew Brees are a perfect match. He’s the face of the franchise. That’s why it’s so strange to see the leaks and this PR game going on. It’s not a coincidence a source revealed this news just a day after the Yahoo! Sports report.
Brees, more than likely, will be franchised before Monday’s deadline and then the two sides will have until July 15 to replace the franchise tag with a longterm deal.
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