Kristian: Still plenty of time for Brees & Saints
by Kristian Garic, kristian@wwl.com
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posted Jul 12 2012 8:25AM
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There is still an eternity of time for the Saints and Drew Brees to work out a long term deal before Monday's 3pm deadline. While the Who Dat Nation is anxious, I would caution everyone not to get worked up for nothing.
The good news is that both sides want the deal to get done. The Saints have offered Brees $19.25 million per year. Brees wants $20.5 million. Where is the middle ground? That is what the Saints and Brees have to come up with. Teams are careful not to outbid themselves in scenario's such as this. New Orleans has exclusive negotiating rights with Brees at this point, why would they get into a bidding war with themselves.
The Saints have 4 days to work out a deal, and are a little more than a million dollars apart. That's chump change by NFL standards! If you are the Saints with time still in your favor would you come in with your best offer? The answer should be no. What you'll see here is monumental increases throughout the next few days to get that number closer to 20.5 million.
If you're Brees, you aren't accepting an offer when you still have sand in the hour glass. Why would you? The Saints know they're going to pay Drew Brees, and Brees knows in the end the Saints are going to win the contract war. How big of a victory is up to Brees. The Saints are trying to preserve the integrity of their roster, while Brees is trying to maximize his value. Contracts inevitably favor the employer when it's all said and done.
The Saints don't want Brees on a 1 year franchise tag tender for 2012. Brees doesn't want it either. That's all the more reason the deal should get done. It will be at the 11th hour, but the contract will be ironed out.
Monday will anxiety filled, but joyous relief comes at 3pm that afternoon.
What about the reports that Brees will not report to training camp if a deal is not done by Monday? Welcome to negotiating! Each side is doing their best in the final hours to get the other side to blink. Agents leak things to help their client. Those reports may be accurate and truthful, but you can bet it's a negotiating tactical move as the clock ticks faster and faster.
Read more about Brees and the Saints contract negotiations by clicking here...
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