Drew Brees Looking For Long-Term Deal, But Saints Reportedly Concerned About This Kind Of Commitment

According to Jason Cole of B/R, there appears to have been no movement between the Saints and QB Drew Brees regarding a contract extension. Cole says that the two parties are no closer to long-term deal and it could lead to Brees being an unrestricted free agent in 2017.

A source tells Cole that Brees is looking for a long-term contract from the Saints with enough guaranteed money that the team would more or less have to commit to him for another three or four years.

However, Cole points out that Brees being 37 years old and showing some signs of wear has led to some concern from the Saints about a long-term commitment. One concern in particular, according to Cole, is that Brees’ arm strength appears to have declined some in recent years.

Brees said previously he’s isn’t sure why contract talks regarding an extension haven’t progressed during the offseason.

“Not sure why things have not progressed,” Brees said. “They made an offer in March, we made an offer shortly thereafter.  And besides the Josh Norman deal, there has been no talk of a contract since.”

Brees added that he would like to have a deal in place by the start of the NFL season, as he has no plans to discuss a new contract during the season.

New Orleans is clearly comfortable carrying Brees’ $30 million cap figure for the 2016 season and seeing how Brees holds up this year before reconsidering an expensive contract.

Mike Triplett of ESPN suggested that Brees could have his sights set on over $60 million in guarantees as part of a new deal, which is more than Andrew Luck and Joe Flacco received in their new deals.

Brees, 37, has one year remaining on his five-year, $100 million contract that included $40 million guaranteed. He stands to make a base salary of $19.75 million of in 2016, while $10.85 million of that salary was guaranteed as of last Wednesday.

In 2015, Brees has thrown for 4,870 yards while completing 68.3 percent of his passes to go along with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions over the course of 15 games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 6 quarterback out of 37 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding a contract extension for Brees as the news is available.