New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is set to occupy $30 million of the team’s cap in 2016 if he plays under his current contract.
Negotiations seem to be halted and Brees reportedly does not want to be dealing with his contract once the regular season starts.
According to Brees, it would appear he is giving the Saints a September deadline for the two sides to come to terms on a new deal.
“I don’t like to talk about contracts during the season. If you remember in 2011, where it began to drag into the season, three weeks in I was like, ‘I don’t want to deal with it anymore. I want to focus on football, focus on the season,'” Brees said, via The Associated Press. “That has always been my approach. That’ll be my approach again. There’s a deal to be done now, and if it doesn’t get done now, it’ll be a different deal to get done at the end of the year.”
If a contract restructure is not worked out in the next few months, it looks like Brees won’t be open to discussions until early next year.
The latter could be the case considering the Saints do not seem to be worried about carrying Brees’ $30 million cap hit into the season.
Several months ago, Brees said he would “absolutely” be willing to negotiate an extension that would save the team cap space this season. Though, that might not be needed with free agency in the rear-view mirror.
As one of the NFL’s older starting quarterbacks, the 37-year-old Brees doesn’t seem to be falling victim to father time. He has passed for no fewer than 4,800 yards since 2011. The future Hall of Famer has also expressed interest in playing for another five seasons.
Brees is in the final year of a $100 million deal he signed in 2012. Whether the Saints will eventually lock him up to another long-term deal or wait to see how 2016 unfolds remains to be seen.
As it currently stands, the Saints have the worst salary cap situation in the NFL and a quarterback reportedly willing to assist in that situation.