NFL Free Agency: Drew Brees is now officially available

NFL Free Agency: No one has taken it very seriously, but Drew Brees is now officially able to negotiate with another team if he wants…

NFL Free Agency is officially underway as teams are now allowed to discuss contract numbers with player agents, and one player that might get a few calls is New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

No one has been talking about Brees as a potential free agent, mainly because everyone assumes that he’s just going to find a way to make it work with the Saints.

He’s a Saints legend, after all.

But what about the fact that the Saints literally can’t pay Brees what he’s worth?

Brees re-structured his contract to cut a cap hit in 2016 nearly in half, pro-rating a signing bonus of $18 million over three years, starting in 2018.

If Brees is not re-signed by March 14th, the Saints take on the entirety of that $18 million dead money charge. If not, they will have a $6 million dead money charge this year, and the same in 2019 and 2020.

In other words, the Saints can’t pay Brees what other teams can, and there are arguably better situations out there for Brees.

First and foremost, it’s important to remember that there is sentimental value at stake with Brees and the Saints, but that doesn’t mean he can’t consider better business decisions. Brees wants to win a championship, or else he wouldn’t be playing, and there are teams that offer him the chance to do so while also making the type of money he is worth right now as a player.

The Minnesota Vikings, who are rumored to be the favorites for Kirk Cousins, as well as the Denver Broncos are two teams that could offer Brees a strong enough roster to win a championship as well as pay him what he’s worth as an unrestricted free agent.

Those teams — or any other for that matter — could simply be leverage for Brees and his camp against the Saints, but what if Brees doesn’t balk?

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Brees could walk away from New Orleans and get paid more money and have just as good of a chance to win elsewhere.

The road to the Super Bowl in the NFC is daunting, with a wide variety of teams expected to be legitimate contenders over the next 3-5 years.

The NFC South, in particular, has three legit championship contenders in the Saints (with Brees), Panthers, and obviously the Falcons.

That road to the Super Bowl might seem a little too daunting for Brees, who would easily be the second best quarterback in the AFC behind Tom Brady if he signed with a team there.

I am not certain anything is going to change with Brees as far as his playing location, but the possibility is definitely there, and I’d be shocked if the money wasn’t there as well.

Some team is going to make Brees turn down big money to return to the Saints. Will he do it?

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