Although it’s been largely overshadowed by the bounty fiasco, the Saints have another potentially significant problem on their hands this offseason if they can’t reach an agreement on a new contract for Drew Brees. Whether that problem will be resolved quickly or drag out for several months remains to be seen.
Brees is in Southern California today promoting his upcoming celebrity golf tournament, and in speaking to reporters he offered few details about where contract talks stand. Asked by Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times whether he’ll be there when the Saints’ workouts start on Monday, Brees didn’t give much of an answer.
“We’re continuing to work on a long term deal,” Brees said.
Working on a deal is better than not working on a deal, but there doesn’t appear to be much reason for optimism that Brees will be there to start the Saints’ offseason program. Once the dust settles on the bounty case, this may turn out to be another big distraction for the Saints.
But the dust hasn’t settled on the bounty case yet. Brees called the audio of former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams urging his players to injure players on the 49ers “hard for everybody to hear,” and he acknowledged that it’s going to be difficult in New Orleans.
“Obviously we’re all very disappointed,” Brees said, via U-T San Diego. “This is a shock to all of us, but whatever is thrown at us, we’re just going to have to find a way to get through it and deal with it and stick together and stay strong. We’ll see how this process continues to move on as we go, but we have a job to do, and that’s to win football games.”
But Brees can’t win football games until he’s under contract.