With less than a week until the new season, Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are discussing a contract extension, one that would make Brees the highest paid quarterback in the NFL.
Brees wants $100 million over four years. The 37-year old who has missed just two games since joining the Saints in 2006 thinks he can be productive for at least for more years. The numbers suggest he hasn’t slowed down, averaging over 300 passing yards per game five years in a row, 32 touchdowns or more a season 8 years in a row, and his 101 passer rating from last season was the sixth best in the NFL.
Brees has said a number of times, in attempt to put pressure on the Saints, that he doesn’t want to negotiate a new deal during the season, which means there are only a few days for white smoke to come out of the meeting room. Obviously, Brees isn’t too happy about hitting free agency, but with the Saints being asked to put down so much money for someone who’ll be over 40 once the contract ends has to be giving them second thoughts.
Brees is coming off a five-year, $100 million deal. No quarterback in the NFL makes $25 million a season on average. Andrew Luck’s recent deal pays him $24.6 million a season over 5 years, and Brees, the best quarterback in the history of the franchise, wants to be number one again, currently 12th in average salary among quarterbacks. The Saints are taking a $30 million cap hit with Brees this season, as he takes home $19.75 million as a base salary, the second highest in the NFL.
One thing going against Brees is the Saints missing the playoffs in three of the last four years, along with their troublesome cap situation. That might not be his fault, but it falls into the list of cons for the Saints to review in this deal. Maybe in the end Brees hits free agency, which is quite rare to see when it comes to a player of this caliber, but stranger things have happened, and maybe the Saints have decided it’s time for a serious change.