The Chicken Game Between Drew Breesand the New Orleans Saints continues to take on increasingly serious overtones.
With less than a week left for the record-setting quarterback and his team to replace his one-year franchise tag with a muti-year contract, Brees is pondering a training camp holdout, per ESPN's Chris Mortensen, if the financial impasse isn't bridged.
Brees, who passed for a single-season record 5,476 yards in 2011 and a league-high 46 TDs while leading New Orleans to the NFC South crown, has until 4 p.m. ET on Monday to secure a long-term pact. Otherwise, he must either play under the $16.3 million tag in 2012 or not play at all, but a holdout won't really help his financial cause since negotiations cannot resume until after the season.
The Saints' first training camp practice is July 26. Even if Brees misses the start of camp, he could show up at any time without fear of being fined since he has not signed the tag tender and is technically not under contract.
Heading into his 12th NFL season, Brees had been adamant about shedding the franchise tag, which is lucrative but offers little security, after he suffered a major injury to his throwing shoulder the last time he was saddled with it while playing for the San Diego Chargers in 2005. The team subsequently let him become a free agent as he was rehabbing the wing before he signed with the Saints.
However Brees has recently indicated he will not miss the upcoming regular season even if he doesn't strike an agreement with New Orleans brass. An arbitrator ruled last week that Brees would be owed more than $23 million in 2013 if the Saints end up tagging him again next offseason, a decision that could give the quarterback extra negotiating leverage given consecutive tags essentially guarantee him approximately $40 million over the next two years.
Despite an offseason rife with distractions amid the club's ever-evolving bounty scandal, Saints owner Tom Benson and GM Mickey Loomis have strongly indicated that a deal with Brees will get done.
Mortensen reports Brees is seeking a deal averaging in the neighborhood of $20.5 million annually, more than $1 million more per year than Peyton Manning will receive after signing his five-year, $96 million deal with the Denver Broncos in March. Tom Brady is entering the second season of a four-year, $72 million extension with the New England Patriots.
No comments:
Post a Comment