It sounds like Drew Brees won't be signing his franchise tender from the New Orleans Saints. At least not yet. WIST-AM in New Orleans reports that Brees is "livid" about receiving the franchise tag, and he will not sign it. The franchise tag is restrictive for players and there are no longterm guarantees, which is why they don't like it.
Drew Brees Not Happy About Franchise Tag And Won’t Sign It, According To Report
The “livid” part is interesting because the two sides have seemingly taken a few swipes at each other recently in the media. It was leaked anonymously that Saints GM Mickey Loomis only wants to pay Brees as a very good quarterback, and not a great one. And then the next day it was leaked anonymously that the Saints offered Brees a contract last year that would have made him the highest paid player in the game.
Brees and the Saints will have until July 15 to work out a multi-year deal. If they can’t get anything done by that date, Brees will play the season under the franchise tender, assuming he signs the tender at some point.
Until Brees signs that tender he is not under contract, which means he won’t be participating in any of the Saints offseason workouts until he does. This is an interesting dilemma for Brees because, as a player, his only real leverage is to not sign the tender and not show up. But on the other hand, the Saints, and mostly Brees, were lauded last year for coordinating offseason workouts on their own during the NFL lockout.
So the question becomes, when will Brees sign the franchise tender? Offseason workouts start up in April, which are the first real activities he would be missing.
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