Any complications the Saints have in agreeing to a contract extension with Drew Brees should be minor. When you step back and analyze the situation, you have to wonder what the holdup is. Brees is not exactly young (33), but he’s at the peak of his game. He’s coming off a 46-touchdown season, which was his fourth straight year over 30 touchdown passes. He also brought a Super Bowl to the city of New Orleans when they desperately needed it. Despite all that, Brees is reportedly facing the possibility of being franchise tagged. The Saints general manager is also rumored to be downplayng what he has done for the team.
According to Yahoo! Sports, three sources claim Saints GM Mickey Loomis tried to define Brees as a “very good” rather than a “great” quarterback when asked about his contract extension talks at the scouting combine last week. All three sources reportedly asked Loomis why it was taking so long to reach a deal, and that was part of his explanation.
The report also says that as of Thursday, Brees and the Saints were $5 million per year apart on a new deal. Aside from Loomis, there are very few people who would argue that Brees shouldn’t be asking for the same deal Tom Brady got from the Patriots last year, which was a four-year extension worth $72 million. They are the same age with very similar resumes. Brady has two more Super Bowls, but those came very early in his career. He and Brees have been among the league’s best for years.
When the Patriots were negotiating with Brady, there was momentary panic and people wondered what would happen if New England expected him to take another hometown discount. However, there was never any talk of the front office downplaying his ability as a negotiation tactic. In the end, Robert Kraft did the right thing. If Loomis feels as though Brees is simply a “very good” quarterback, Saints owner Tom Benson has to step in and make sure one of the best players in franchise history gets the treatment he deserves.
