Other news • The Bears signed three-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Kyle Long to a four-year contract extension through the 2021 season.
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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has reportedly agreed to a 5 year extension, but in reality, is a two-year deal worth $44.25 million guaranteed.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Wednesday because financial details of the extension had not been announced.
Brees was in the final year of his five-year, $100 million contract and was adamant that he wanted to get a new deal done before the start of the season. The way the deal is structured will allow the team spread the cap hit out over the next five years. The 37-year-old quarterback was set to become a free agent, and it would have cost the Saints $43 million to use the franchise tag on him for a third time.
Brees’ deal comes about six months after coach Sean Payton, who designed the offense that Brees has run, agreed to an extension in New Orleans through 2020.
Another team might have backed up the money truck for Brees next spring.
Goodell adds that with National Football League players having a visible platform for their viewpoints, “we have to choose respectful ways of doing that so that we can achieve the outcomes we ultimately want and do it with the values and ideals that make our country great”.
“I plan to play for longer than two years, so yeah, I think my mindset going into this was to be able to secure a deal that would take me for as long as I plan on playing”, Brees admitted Wednesday. “I’ll be here for as long as they want me”.
Since joining the Saints 10 years ago, Brees has thrown for 48,555 yards and 348 touchdowns. The Saints start the season on Sunday, meaning the two sides came to an agreement with just four days before the start of the 2016 season. No matter how Brees performs in 2016, you can bet they’ll take a quarterback early in 2017, when he’ll be 38 years of age.
The Saints’ prolific QB again led the league in passing last season, and he has asserted that, with the help of modern training techniques, he could play at an elite level for at least five more seasons. Entering his 16th season, Brees is 459 yards away from moving past Dan Marino into third place on the all-time career passing yards leaderboard.
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To make room, the Saints are releasing second-year quarterback Garrett Grayson, according to ESPN.
