Drew Brees Is Returning For Another Season…How Much Money Can He Make?

ByJoey Heldon February 23, 2020inArticles›Sports News

For the past three years, Drew Brees has taken some time during the winter to reflect. During this period, he spent time with family, recovered from any lingering injuries or soreness, and thought about his future in the NFL. And just like in previous years, Brees came to the same conclusion: he’s not quite done.

Brees, 41, announced via an Instagram post that he’s planning to return for his 20th NFL season. He said he had no interest in exploring the free agent market, so his choices were either return to New Orleans or retire.

Brees is still playing at a high level and the Saints are still one of the best teams in the league, so Brees decided to “make another run at it,” per his Instagram post.

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The decision does present a few issues. For one, Brees and the Saints need to negotiate a new contract. In 2018, when Brees was last a free agent, he took a deal worth slightly below market average, a two-year, $50 million contract with only one year guaranteed.

He’ll likely negotiate a similar deal this time around, again with just the first year guaranteed. That way, if he retires after next season, the Saints wouldn’t owe him any of the money for year two.

Even if he just plays one more season, Brees will likely surpass Eli Manning as the highest career earner in NFL history. He’s currently about $7.6 million behind the younger Manning, and his contract will surely be worth more money than that.

Brees can also add to his passing numbers. He’s the NFL career leader in passing yards (77,416) and touchdown passes (547). He also just posted the best quarterback rating (116.3) of his career and has set completion percentage records each of the past three seasons.

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The other issue the Saints must address is with their remaining quarterbacks. Head coach Sean Payton said it would be difficult financially to keep Brees, Teddy Bridgewater , and Taysom Hill together.

That leaves the Saints with a choice between Bridgewater and Hill, and they’ll likely lean towards the latter. Hill has been used in just about every offensive position, and the team likes his versatility and bruising style.

Bridgewater, meanwhile, may score himself a big deal with another team. He led the Saints to a 5-0 record when Brees suffered a thumb injury early in the season, and showed he can be a solid quarterback. A team with a need at that position may offer Bridgewater, who’s only 27 years old, a nice deal.

That will all be sorted out in the coming weeks. But at least the Saints know they’ll have Brees for one more shot at another title.

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Can The New Orleans Saints Afford A $30 Million Salary Cap Hit For Drew Brees Next Season?

ByTravis Pulveron January 13, 2016inArticles›Sports News

Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. His team, the New Orleans Saints, is far from being the best in the business. This season they finished 7-9, the third time in four seasons they finished below .500, and didn’t make the playoffs. They had an epically bad defense, and will need to address some of the holes through free agency in the off-season.

To do so, they are going to need room under the salary cap. They are currently hovering at around $150 million, and about $10 million over the cap. That means they are going to have to make some cuts.

They could do so by cutting out a number of smaller contracts or bite the bullet and cut a big one – which means cutting a major player. With a $30 million salary cap hit, the obvious candidate would be quarterback Drew Brees .

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

From a financial standpoint the move makes sense. If he were released he would still account for $10 million towards the cap, but that would put them under the cap and give them some much needed room. Enough? Probably not, but it would be a good start.

However, from a football standpoint, it would be sheer lunacy. The Saints have had one of the top passing offenses in the league since Brees joined them back in 2006. Behind his league leading 4,870 yards, the Saints actually had the No. 2 offense during the regular season in spite of their 24 th ranked rushing offense.

Could they do it without Brees? Probably not. The Saints have yet to develop the heir apparent to the soon to be 37-year-old Brees. Last season, veteran back-up Luke McCown served as the No. 2 and the team also had Matt Flynn on the roster. They did take promising Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson in the 2015 draft, but he is a work in progress and did not throw a single pass in the regular season.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The Saints are built for the pass and need a good passer at quarterback if they are going to continue to have any success on offense in the future. Maybe Grayson will be up to the task, but is the chance at another losing season and seriously angering the entire fan base worth taking the chance? It will not matter if the defense improves only for the offense to regress.

Drew Brees, in spite of his age, is not going anywhere. His skills do not appear to be slipping yet, so there is every reason to think he will produce just as well next season as he did this season. There is a way he could help the team with the salary cap once again.

He could do what Tom Brady did , and give the Saints a home team discount (Brady is playing under a three-year, $27 million deal), but that is not likely to happen. No, he’ll probably sign a contract extension that will allow the team to push off the salary cap hit to another year(s).

It will only be a Band-Aid on the salary cap woes of the New Orleans Saints, but for now it is the best option the team has.

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