Quarterback Drew Brees has a new deal with the Saints and his first comments about the two-year, $50 million contract emphasized the space it leaves for the team to continue building a championship contender.
Brees is due $27 million in guaranteed money, which essentially makes it a one-year deal with an option to continue the relationship in 2019 if all continues to go well. That may be less than Brees could have made with another team or if he’d fully pressed his leverage, but Brees said that wasn’t his top priority.
“I think that provides certainly the team with the most flexibility when it comes to being able to anticipate the future and the ability to acquire free agents and re-sign players on our existing roster that will build a championship team,” Brees said, via Mike Triplett of ESPN.com.
One player that Brees would like to see in a Saints uniform is tight end Jimmy Graham, who has been linked to a return to his first NFL team. Brees said he thinks Graham would “be an even better fit now than he was when he first started with us,” but it remains to be seen if he’ll be catching passes from Brees in 2018.