With the regular-season opener little more than two weeks away, the artificial — but very real — deadline for the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees to hammer out a new contract is arriving. Appearing on Wednesday’s PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio and NBCSN, Brees reiterated his position that, once the regular season begins, negotiations will stop until the season ends.
“That’s always been my mindset and my approach,” Brees said. “That’s what it was back in 2011. We were kind of in a similar situation and we got into the season, first couple weeks, and I just felt like it was becoming a distraction and I’d just rather focus on football. I hope that we can get something done between now and then, I’m confident that we can but you know at this point still just very much focused on getting us ready to play for Week One.”
A source with knowledge of the situation has suggested that next week could be the week in which something happens. If nothing happens before Week One, and if Brees sticks to his plan to not negotiate once the season begins, the Saints will either use the franchise tag (at a 44-percent raise over his $30 million cap number, which equates to $43.2 million) or they will essentially let the market set his value, hopeful to sign him before he officially hits the open market in March.
As we’ve seen time aged again, if a player hits the market, there’s a chance he hits the road. For Brees, that remains unlikely. It’s less unlikely, however, if a deal doesn’t get resolved by Week One.
Brees said plenty of other interesting stuff. Click the video box to hear it all.