DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Saints Franchise Brees

The New Orleans Saints have placed their exclusive-rights franchise tag on quarterback Drew Brees, the team confirmed Saturday.

The Saints were unable to agree to a long-term deal with Brees and didn't want to risk losing him in free agency.

The franchise tag for a quarterback currently carries a $14.4 million salary cap hit, but the number could increase later this spring when the quarterback cap numbers are re-evaluated.

Sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Friday that Brees and the Saints remain millions of dollars apart in contract talks.

The two sides, both of which believe they are making a fair offer, are facing a gap of $5 million per season for the first three seasons of the proposal, sources told Schefter.

Brees is seeking a contract that averages $23 million per season for the first three years of his deal, sources told Schefter. That's the same amount Peyton Manning's Colts contract averages the first three seasons.

But the Saints are offering Brees a five-year contract that averages $18 million a year, sources told Schefter, which is the average that Manning and New England's Tom Brady are due to earn over the life of their deals.

Brady's contract averages $18 million in the first three years, like the Saints' current offer to Brees.

In January, Brees said he would be "beyond stunned" if he and the Saints are unable to agree on a contract extension during this offseason.
The 2011 Offensive Player of the Year arrived in New Orleans in 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina had struck. Since then he has passed for more yards than any other quarterback in the NFL (28,394) while lifting the Saints to new heights and simultaneously helping a region heal from Katrina's devastation.

In 2011, Brees set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2. His prolific passing numbers helped the Saints set a new NFL high for total offensive yards in a season with 7,474.

The 33-year-old Brees led the Saints to a 13-3 regular season record and second NFC South division title. New Orleans defeated Detroit in the first round of the playoffs before falling in the final seconds of their second-round game at San Francisco.

Under the rules of the exclusive franchise tag, Brees can't be contacted by other teams and remains exclusive property of the Saints.

ESPN

my guess is the saints figured they better use the tag now, before the NFL punished them and stripped them of the franchise tag.

This may seem not to effect us, but, until contracts get reworked this maxes the Saints cap room. Which, in terms, puts Marques Colston (b+ to a- wr) and Carl Nicks (a to a+ left guard) on the free agent market.
Both are positions of need and both are familiar with the style of offense we wish to run.
We have plenty of cap space. Colston would bring a nice veteran presence at a position we've got nothing but developmental players at. Nicks is a "goon" type, a physical mauler with good awareness that is capable of handling those "big" 4-3 dts or des we face 50% of the time.
Given that Steinbach has either been out injured or played ingured every season here so far, and the fact he's due 6 million this season the chances of him coming back fall between slim and none. The best we could hope for their is a major contract reconstructure and a 1-2 year move to. The right side as we groom a rookie rt, taken with our 2nd or 3rd overall pick.

Idiotic move by the Saints, but it could actually benefit us, so OK. How can you not reach a long term contract with one of the best QBs in the league who wants to stay with your team?

the talk here about it is that they are franchising Brees to free up extra cap room so they can sign Colston & Nicks. they'll have more cap room next offseason when they can put together a long-term deal for Brees (yeah, he gets top5 salary, but his new contract will likely be the highest paid QB in the league and include a big signing bonus).

now, the question is if they can get that contract for Nicks worked out before the 13th (and to a lesser extent Colston)