Tri-parish native begins pro career
July 11, 2012
Q&A: Terrebonne’s Williams enjoying busy summer
July 11, 2012
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
That’s the painful, tedious sound resonating in the minds of New Orleans Saints fans across Louisiana this week.
That’s because this week (July 15) marks the deadline for the Saints to ink superstar quarterback Drew Brees to a long-term deal before training camp starts.
This truly is a nervous time in the history of this locally beloved franchise.
Completion of a deal would result in a public opinion parade of support for both the quarterback and the team – all would be well in Saints land as we push toward the opening weeks of the preseason.
Failure to complete a deal would result in chaos – sheer and utter chaos.
Fans would blame the team’s front office for failing to ante up to keep Brees – the franchise’s best-ever player.
They would berate team owner Tom Benson for having the gumption to buy an NBA franchise this offseason while Brees’ contract situation still hung over New Orleans’ head.
That’s actually a pretty legitimate gripe. People seem to forget that Benson was widely considered a penny-pinching joke of an owner no more than 10-15 years ago.
Those same people also forget the slimy escape plan to San Antonio the owner tried to pull during Hurricane Katrina.
A lot of Louisiana may have a short-term memory. But I don’t. The paper bags of the 1990s were in large part a protest of Benson’s penny pinching ways.
Players in the locker room would scratch their heads and wonder what must be done within the organization to be financially rewarded.
Heck, put yourself in the shoes of a player within the team. I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking to myself right now, ‘If Drew Brees isn’t getting paid, will anyone within the organization get paid for superb on-field performance?’
If I were Jimmy Graham, Darren Sproles or any other Saint in line for big money soon, I’d have to wonder.
And this local sports guy would take a completely opposite stance and shift a lion’s share of the blame onto the one person whom no one is blaming – Brees.
The “innocent” star quarterback went on record multiple times last season and said he would take less money in a contract extension for the sake of the team’s salary cap.
He didn’t.
He actually is doing the opposite, as reports say he is holding out to be the highest paid-quarterback in the NFL.
The quarterback also has said numerous times that he loves his teammates and would basically do anything to avoid missing minicamp dates and practice time.
Again – another lie.
Reports say the gap between the quarterback and the team is “about $1 million.”
Sure sounds like a guy talking out of his rear to win support of the media, doesn’t it?
No matter who’s side one is on within this situation, I see it playing out one of three ways.
The first way is the most likely – the team gets a deal done before training camp.
This is just the most logical scenario.
Take Brees off out of the Saints’ plans and a top-tier NFL franchise immediately becomes a black hole of mediocrity
Chase Daniel is a good kid and everything – no offense to him. But comparing him to Brees is like me comparing myself to Tiger Woods in golf – it’s no comparison.
The Saints front office has to realize they would be paralyzed without Brees.
With that said, I think there’s about a 65 percent chance this thing gets done before the deadline.
If it doesn’t and we have to list a plan B, I think the second most likely scenario is that the Saints miss the deadline and Brees holds out, before eventually signing the franchise tender.
Brees has said multiple times he wouldn’t sign the franchise tag. But he has also said that he wouldn’t hold out for an entire season – a vast contradiction.
Something has got to give.
We’ve already detailed a handful of the quarterback’s mistruths in this column, so it wouldn’t downright shock me if the quarterback holds out for about a week, gets the itch to play and then joins the team.
This situation would be approaching the danger zone for the Saints because of the outright rioting that would take place at the team’s practice facility if the team opened camp and/or preseason without Brees under center.
But at the end of the day, everyone would end up happy and No. 9 would be the team’s opening day quarterback for the season opener against the Redskins.
I think this situation has about a 30 percent chance of happening.
The last 5 percent goes to the absolute worst-case scenario – Brees holds out and misses games and/or the whole season.
This seems like a complete stab in the dark because of how big a public relations nightmare it would be.
But if it’s gotten this far, who is to say it wouldn’t go even farther?
I’m not a Saints fan, but I truly hope it doesn’t get this far.
No one in New Orleans deserves that.
No one benefits in an NFL where star players don’t play.
But in this situation, a major holdout is unfortunately still a possibility.
Whatever happens, we will all find out this week.
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
The clock is ticking, Saints fans.
The way the next few hours shape up will likely determine the immediate history of your franchise.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees fires a pass during last season’s second round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers. The Saints have until July 15 to give the quarterback a contract extension before training camp begins.
