If the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees currently are truly close to getting a deal done, they’ve been close for nearly a week.
As reported by multiple other outlets, the Saints have recently made Brees a new offer. According to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, the team made the new offer on Friday.
If the goal of the Friday offer was to get Brees to show up for a three-day mandatory minicamp that opened Tuesday, it didn’t work. The source also said that Brees’ camp has yet to respond.
In theory, agent Tom Condon could call G.M. Mickey Loomis on Friday (or, you know, right now) and say, “We accept.” But that’s not how it usually works. Deadlines drive the final positions. With the offseason program winding down, there’s no reason for either side to move toward its actual bottom line because the other side will wait until the eleventh hour and then squeeze for more.
So with the deadline for doing a multi-year deal coming on July 16, that remains the date to watch. Something also could happen after the late June hearing before Stephen Burbank on the question of whether Brees would be entitled to a 20-percent raise or a 40-percent raise under the franchise tag in 2013, if both sides sufficiently fear losing the $3.9 million that hangs in the balance by waiting for Burbank to issue a decision.
Either way, there’s currently every reason to believe that Brees and the Saints will have a long-term deal in place by the middle of July.