New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees confident of securing new long term deal soon - NFL News
With all the problems facing the New Orleans Saints from the bounty scandal to suspensions given to their players and coaches, one major problem that should have been in the limelight has taken a backseat for now.
That problem is the contract dispute between the Saints and their star quarterback, Drew Brees, with both parties reportedly $ 2million apart.
The Saints had placed Brees on a franchise tag before the start of free agency which the player for now has refused to sign as he holds-out in wait for a new deal.
Both parties have till July 16th to put pen to paper on a new deal without which Brees would play the 2012-13 regular season on the franchise tag which will pay him $ 16.371million.
The quarterback though remains confident that he would be signed on a new long-term deal before the deadline as his representatives continue to discuss the new contract with the Saints.
Speaking in a radio interview with ESPN he said:
"I've always said, you would think this process should be a lot simpler than it is. It just always seems to be complicated. But I'm still very confident that we'll get a long-term deal done, and hopefully that will happen sooner than later."
Brees had held out of the Saints mandatory minicamp since he has not signed the franchise tag and it remains to be seen whether the quarterback will report for the team’s training camp which takes place in late July.
The quarterback also acknowledged that the off-the-field problems facing the franchise like the bounty scandal has resulted in delays in his contract negotiations.
"This has been a stressful offseason in a lot of ways. There's been a lot of distractions for everybody."
Adding further he said:
"I'm not using that as an excuse other than just stating it as fact. That has delayed things quite a bit at times."
New Orleans Saints will hope that their quarterback signs on with the franchise on a new long-term deal soon since the hopes of the franchise’s 2012-13 season rest on the quarterback’s shoulders and after the bounty scandal suspensions Brees’ importance
for the team has increased manifold.
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