As the team gets ready for Sunday’s season opener ProfootballTalk.com reports the two sides are close to a contract deal.
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The contract is for five years but has an automatic void at two years.
“I wanted the contract to reflect that, naturally, and have it be the last contract that I signed”, Brees said. I understand how National Football League contract negotiations work, and the “process” (Brees’ word) that both sides must go through before striking a complicated deal.
“The cap situation, to me, was the most important element to this”.
At this point though the Saints can be pretty confident that Brees will give them great quarterback play for a few years and extending him will be a smart decision.
If Brees loves this city and the team as much as he says he does, then he understands as a veteran that it takes money and talent to win. They all happen in due time, they all happen when they’re supposed to.
The Saints should have more flexibility to make moves with Brees’ extension.
Evans first visited the team on Tuesday.
The contract also has a no-trade clause, and bars the Saints from using the franchise tag on Brees in 2018 – so they’ll have to pay up big to keep him, again.
Ellerbe did not play in the final preseason game for the Saints against the Baltimore Ravens last week.
The Saints have reached a deal with Drew Brees to ensure that the quarterback doesn’t become a free agent in the spring, according to ESPN.
Brees, who had one year left on the five-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2012, said the new deal “was in the best interest of the team”.
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It’s possible that Brees could pass Peyton Manning for No. 1 on the NFL’s all-time passing yardage (71,940) and passing touchdown (539) lists before his next deal is up. Brees led the league in passing and fell just shy of throwing for 5,000 yards on the year only because of a missed game due to injury. The 15 year pro has said that he would not negotiate any contract extensions with the Saints beyond the start of the regular season. With a little defense at San Francisco in the playoffs that season, the Saints would have hosted the New York Giants in the Superdome the next week for the right to go to the Super Bowl. Now the coach and QB tandem will try to make a run at another Super Bowl.
