QB Drew Brees will not report to camp without contract

[polamalubeast]

If Drew Brees does not have a long-term contract in place by Monday's 4 p.m. ET deadline, the New Orleans Saints quarterback has no plans to sign his franchise tender and report to training camp, according to league and team sources.


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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8153671/drew-brees-new-orleans-saints-skip-training-camp-contract-sources-say

[steelerdude15]

The offseason from Hell should be the title to the Saints offseason. I feel so bad for the fans.

[Count Steeler]

Let the real negotiations begin. I will be shocked if a deal is not done by the deadline. Without Brees, the Saints will really be in a world of hurt.

[st33lersguy]

No Drew Brees really hurts this team

[Iron Steeler]

Looks like nfc south is up for grabs

[ALLD]

If they do not sign Brees, they will not have sell outs. It will cost the owner money and with such a small difference, they should PAY HIM ALREADY! I can;t believe how stupid some owners not in Oakland, DC or Dallas actually are. Or it could be greed and a conspiracy to cap salaries in a different way.

[silver & black]

If they do not sign Brees, they will not have sell outs. It will cost the owner money and with such a small difference, they should PAY HIM ALREADY! I can;t believe how stupid some owners not in Oakland, DC or Dallas actually are. Or it could be greed and a conspiracy to cap salaries in a different way.

I can't tell you how good it feels to NOT be there anymore. The future looks bright for the Silver and Black....... and it's been a long time coming.

[Godfather]

The offseason from Hell should be the title to the Saints offseason. I feel so bad for the fans.

Yeah, but at least they're used to this kind of thing. Remember a few years ago when they pulled off a Stanford Band play to keep their playoff hopes alive....then missed the game tying extra point?

[steelerdude15]

Yeah, but at least they're used to this kind of thing. Remember a few years ago when they pulled off a Stanford Band play to keep their playoff hopes alive....then missed the game tying extra point?

O yeah, I do remember that. They were playing the Jags.

[steelreserve]

I may be in the minority on this, but it doesn't sit well with me that a guy would refuse to sign the franchise tag, when the franchise tag is close to $20M, he's coming off a $60M contract, he's toward the latter stages of his career, and obviously the team's goal is to get a long-term deal worked out in any case. Seriously, WTF? Negotiating tactic or not, it's dumb to see players using the threat of a holdout to try and make the statement that the rules don't apply to them. Why did they even bother making a franchise tag or an RFA designation if players can just do this?

[polamalubeast]

Report: Saints, Drew Brees still apart



NEW ORLEANS -- Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints still must close a significant gap in guaranteed money if they are to agree on a five-year contract worth about $100 million by Monday's looming deadline for a long-term deal, said a person familiar with the negotiations.

The sides were more than $10 million apart in the guaranteed portion of the contract on Wednesday, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because talks are ongoing.


The stakes are high for both sides and the negotiations have lasted for months, including long gaps in communication between the two camps.

Brees, 33 and entering his 12th season, never before has had the chance to negotiate a contract on par with the elite quarterbacks of the game. The Saints, meanwhile, risk alienating the best quarterback in franchise history, not to mention their fan base, by failing to make an offer to his satisfaction by Monday -- the deadline for players with the franchise tag to sign long-term deals.

Several months ago, Brees first raised the possibility that he would not report to the opening of training camp if all that was on the table at that time was the one-year franchise tag of about $16.3 million.

If Brees does not have a long-term contract in place by Monday's 4 p.m. ET deadline, the quarterback has no plans to sign his franchise tender and report to training camp, league and team sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.



read more

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8158322/report-new-orleans-saints-drew-brees-more-10-million-apart-guaranteed-money

[86WARD]

Why would he sign it? He's been dicked around, injured before...he wants the money he rightfully deserves as an NFL QB. If he gets inkured again, he mihht not get the same opportunity he did the last time.

The things that are holding up the contract are the guaranteed money and where the monies are "placed" in the contract. It's not so much the amounts any more. They are pretty close on that. It's more so how it is broken down.

[steelreserve]

He's already made the money he rightfully deserves as an NFL QB - well over $70M so far and counting. Even if he signed the franchise tag, tore both ACLs the next day and never played another snap again, he'd have made over $90M. Not bad if you ask me. I am not trying to say this from the standpoint of the typical meatheaded fan going "omg, I'd play quarterback for $1M, lol." This just looks as if (like many contract negotiations in the NFL these days) it's ceased being about getting paid fairly, or expectations, or anything rational; just some convoluted world of egos and leverage and getting paid more than the next guy just because.

I don't care who has the leverage. You'd think it would be possible to have half an ounce of faith that a deal is going to get done, given that negotiations are underway, and offers have been made, and a shitload of money is already on the table, and everybody with an IQ above 6 can see that the team will eventually pay whatever it takes to keep him. If he tears his rotator cuff within the first 2 weeks of training camp, I'll eat my words, but other than that, it's like ... come back to the real world, people.