In a move that further signals the future Hall of Famer’s impending retirement, Drew Brees has reworked his contract. Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com reports (via Twitter) that the Saints have renegotiated the quarterback’s deal. The move frees up nearly $24MM in cap space for 2021.
NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets that Brees has agreed to drop his 2021 base salary to the league minimum. New Orleans will temporarily carry a $12MM cap charge for Brees until June, a drastic decrease from his previous $36MM cap charge. Thanks to these cap machinations, the Saints will be able to keep Brees on their roster past June 1 while opening an abundance of cap space (assuming the veteran ultimately hangs up his cleats). Pelissero notes that the move also results in an $11.5MM cap charge in 2022.
The move does more than provide the Saints (who are an estimated $78MM over the cap) with some much-needed financial relief. Rather, as Fitzgerald writes, the restructuring buys Brees some time as he determines whether or not he’ll retire. Either way, the transaction is another major hint that Brees career may have come to an end. Indeed, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football seems to be hinting at the impending retirement announcement, tweeting that “one thing seems to be foreshadowing another.”
Of course, the writing’s been on the wall for a while. There were whispers about a potential retirement throughout the 2020 season, and the rumor mill has naturally heated up following the Saints’ elimination from the playoffs. While GM Mickey Loomis kept the door open on a potential return, there have been several subsequent reports stating that Brees will retire.
If this is truly the end for Brees, it will wrap up a bona fide Hall of Famer career. The 42-year-old has the most yards in league history, and he’s collected the second-most touchdowns behind Tom Brady. The next time we see Brees could be in the booth, as he signed a deal with NBC Sports last April.
I wouldn’t wanna end my playoffs through the last few yrs on em Ls
What you expect play till he wins one which will be never he ain’t no Brady you can tell brees is in a big decline in recent years he done.
I mean win another
Referees cost him a chance at another one.
Referees didn’t cost him a chance at anything.
Brees cost himself a trip with an overtime INT
Punctuation would be your friend…
I’m not a fan of either Brees or Brady … that said , if Brees had the weapons Brady has , it would be Brees in the Super Bowl this week….yes Brady is great but who wouldn’t be with those weapons and defense. Brees had Kamara and Thomas ( part time) then what? I’m not saying Brees is as good or better than Brady but there’s not much difference IMO. Brady has Brown, Gronk, Brate, Godwin, Evans, Fournette, Jones …. good grief Trubisky would be good with that arsenal…
Trubisky… lol… your nuts bro, you missed a few for Brees, E.Sanders, L.Murray who is a nice player to have, on the other side, D.Davis, C. Jordan, Hendrickson, nice corners and Safeties. This is petty much the 1st or 2nd time Brady had players like this on his team for a superbowl. He’s going to his 10th… lolol.
Translation please? I don’t speak swamper.
Exhibit A for why the NFL cap is a joke.
I’ve always called it a myth. Never once has 1 team ever been penalized for being over the cap. 100% perfection from anywhere 28-32 teams (Jax, Texans & Carolina came after the cap was in place) for over 30 years, pretty remarkable.
Broncos got hit in 1998. I think there was one other team who got fined in the mid 2000s…can’t remember who.
I believe that the Broncos, Steelers, Cowboys, and Washington have all been served penalties of one form or another for being over the cap.
The Bengals were going to be fined for being under the cap but instead made (at the time) Carl Pickens the highest paid WR in NFL history.
Agreed. The cap is a joke, with the way teams play with restructuring, signing bonuses, etc it’s a joke.
How about taking a players average salary over the years of his contract, that is his cap number (I.e. 5 years 50 million his cap number is $10 million). If the player is cut, waived or traded his number comes completely off the cap. No dead money. I’ve seen players who were signed, then cut or traded and they are a dead cap hit for 2-3 years, when they are currently on another teams roster counting against that teams cap. Makes no sense to me.
Well so much for all that retirement talk