The Saints and quarterback Drew Brees now sit less than four days from the deadline for working out a long-term deal, under the rules of the franchise tag.
And while there are no signs that the two sides have engaged in serious discussions, Brees expressed optimism at the ESPYs on Wednesday that the situation will get resolved.
“I’m an eternal optimist, so I’m still very confident a deal will get done by Monday,” Brees said, via the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
“I think I’ve been around this league long enough to understand how this works at times. In a lot of cases, it does go down to the wire, and you need a stopping point in order to bring everyone together and make sure it can get done. That stopping point is Monday, so let’s hope we get something done by then.”
There could be reason soon for more widespread optimism. We’ve caught wind of a looming report from one of the New Orleans media outlets that Brees will sign a long-term deal on Friday.
On one hand, a couple of members of the New Orleans media were pushing weeks ago the notion that a long-term deal was imminent. On the other hand, there aren’t many days left for something to get done.