Todd Berner | Hobbies & Interests

A blog centered around Todd's hobbies and interests

Menu Close

Tag: Saints

Brees to Remain

Earlier this month, New Orleans breathed an audible sigh of relief as Drew Brees committed to continuing his career in a black and gold uniform for at least the next two years.

He signed a five-year extension that offers Brees the opportunity to sign voids after two years and includes a no-trade clause. This reportedly means he is guaranteed to receive $44.25 million, not a bad deal.

What is more important, however, is that the best player in Saint history will continue his path to the Hall of Fame in a Saints uniform. With the Saints already having exhibited an incredible offense in the past few years, this bodes very well for the coming season. Currently, Brees is already fourth on the NFL’s all-time list for passing yards with 60,903, third in all-time for both touchdowns at 428 and completion at 5,635, and first in 5,000 yard seasons with four.

Moreover, this is all on top of Brees’ season last year, his best yet, in which he led the league in passing yards (4,870 over fifteen games), completed 428 of 627 pass attempts (a 68.3% completion rate), had 32 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions. With respect to his recent decision, Brees stated,

“Both sides are very happy. Certainly, I’m very happy. I want to play my entire career here and I’m just taking it one step at a time, one year at a time, one opportunity at a time. But this allows me to be around here for a bit longer, and I’ll be here as long as they’ll have me.”

Although contract negotiations were likely a bit more dramatic than necessary, it does seem to have paid off (literally) for both sides. Not only do the Saints get to continue taking advantage of Drew Brees’ outstanding career, but Brees gets to stay where he feels more comfortable. As he said himself, he wants to complete the rest of his career in the Big Easy—it’s just a matter of the right opportunity at the right time.

I, for one, am very excited Brees has decided to remain for at least the next two seasons. He’s not just the leader of the Saints. He’s also a legend in New Orleans.

The Saints’ Savior’s Questionable Future

Drew Brees has seemingly been the Saints’ savior over the years. Coming back from what should have been a career-ending injury to establish the timeless legacy he has is a 30 for 30 just waiting to be made, and it’s this resilience that has won the hearts and minds of New Orleans fans across the nation. Yet, the question of his contract extension still looms large in nearly every conversation even remotely involving the Saints.

Training camp has started and negotiations still haven’t stopped. To put the situation in as base terms as possible: Brees wants four more years and the Saints want Brees but don’t want to commit to four years with him. Now, from Brees’ perspective, it only makes sense that he wants four more years. Already having displayed an absolutely remarkable affinity for physicality (his recovery speaks for itself), he also has the numbers to back him; and he doesn’t think they’re going anywhere. In fact, he has even gone so far as to claim that he can play well beyond forty. He’s thirty-seven now so that would make him forty-one by the expiration of his desired contract.

While Brees is no doubt an outstanding quarterback (honestly, legendary may be a more accurate adjective here), that is not say he will stay such. Every player has a shelf life, and as unfortunate as that is, it’s the incontrovertible truth. When Saints Vice President Mickey Loomis was asked how negotiations were proceeding, he responded that the ball is in Drew’s court.

Certainly, this is not Sean Payton’s, Mickey Loomis’, or Drew Brees’ first time around and they all seem to be waiting one another out, or rather, Loomis and Payton are trying to wait out Drew Brees. In the meantime, it is the fans who are struggling with the stress of uncertainty, who have to wrestle with the anxiety of their greatest player potentially leaving the franchise after a historical role with them.

Apparently, Brees has a self-imposed deadline of September 11th, the season opener against the Oakland Raiders, for the proceedings to come to a close. As training camp continues, here’s to hoping that Brees and the staff can compromise so that the fans do not have to suffer any longer than necessary. All this said, the Saints could be in for a fantastic, or a miserable season. As we approach the beginning of the 2016 season, all I can say is—Who Dat?

The Indiscernible Saints

Entering training camp this season, there is a sense of uncertainty surrounding the New Orleans’ Saints and what the future holds for them. Aside from the fact that Brees is sure to play for the Saints this offseason, there is really not much that is known for sure. Yet, the Saints are constantly full of surprises, both good and bad.

Take 2014, for instance. Many NFL commentators and analysts believed the Saints could not only go to the Super Bowl, but win it. Many thought their 2014 roster was the best collection of talent on a Saints roster in recent memory. Their 7-9 record points to the contrary.

2015 was a bit more predictable. Recently suffering the loss of Junior Galette, the Saints were clearly poised for a rebuilding year, and this time their record agrees: they went 7-9, again, a kind of cold reinforcement of the year before. This year, however, could go a number of different ways, and the Saints’ staff agrees. Payton, Looms, and the remainder of the team and staff all agree that there is a murky haze pulled over what this season has in store.

Questioned if there were more questions surrounding this upcoming year than seasons past, Payton conceded, “Look there are certain areas we’re paying attention to, nut I don’t know if we’d sit down and list specifically [areas of concern].” More to the point, Payton and particular was cited saying “Obviously we’ve had teams that were better than what we thought we’d have at this point and then teams that we felt real good about that underachieved or weren’t as good as we expected. So we’ll kind of get started and get a chance to see what we’ve got. There’s a process involved with that, but I think that’s the exciting part of training camp.”

Honestly, it sounds like Payton is picturing the 2014 season as he said his answer. If I had to guess, I would think that he is happy with what they’ve put together so far but is hesitant to make any bold proclamations considering the disappointing result of a couple years ago. Loomis said something interesting as well.

“I think there’s always jobs available; and jobs sometimes mean roster spots, sometimes they mean more roster spots and sometimes it means, ‘Hey, who’s going to be the starter? Or who’s going to be the contributor?” He went on in much the same fairly ambiguous tone.

It largely seems like Loomis is alluding that there may more open positions on the team this training camp, open positions in the sense of role players, who’s going to step up and who may fall off. The opportunities are certainly available, and now is the time, if any, for a perhaps unexpected player to make a statement, to take control and take their game to the next level.

While I understand this idea is a perpetual notion in sports, that there is always an opportunity for unknown players to make themselves known, I am saying that this season, in particular, and the shrouded atmosphere of obscurity enveloping it, presents an especially conducive environment for such a development. In fact, the last time the Saints missed the postseason two consecutive years, they returned to claim the championship in 2009.

Only time will tell; but the indiscernible undercurrents of this training season may just provide the perfect chance for an unexpected, though highly welcome, player to emerge.

Saints Season Preview

The beginning of all is upon us, and with it marks the beginning of the South’s favorite sport, football. There is no arguing that Louisiana is SEC country with LSU located in the state capital of Baton Rouge. Tigers fans would give a left arm to see their team win the SEC championship in Atlanta in December, let alone a national title. The football allegiance of these state’s most populous and famous city, New Orleans, however, lies with the Saints which boast some of the most passionate fans you will find across any American sports team. The last decade has been an up and down journey for the Saints.  Their journey closely aligns with the experiences of the people of New Orleans who suffered great hardship due to the destruction to their city caused by Hurricane Katrina more than a decade ago. In the ensuing years, the Saints, in some ways, served not only as a beacon of hope, but as a unifying thread that tied together all members of this incredibly diverse city. The Saints, led by their talented and infallible quarterback, Drew Brees, capped off a wonderful 2009 season with a thrilling SuperBowl Victory.

That was six years ago, however. NFL Pundits have been proclaiming all offseason that the NFC South is the weakest amongst the league’s divisions. It is true that the Saints, Falcons, Panthers, or Buccaneers are not legitmate contenders for the conference championship, let alone the Super Bowl.

The Bucs with a weak defense, a talent-defficent offesnive line, and rookie quarterback will most likely finish at the bottom of the division. Most analysts are split between the Falcons, the Panthers, and the Saints as the division favorites. The Falcons, if their O-line holds up will have a powerful offensive attack, but it remains to be seen if first year coach and defensive guru, Dan Quinn, can transform their previously lackluster defense. The Carolina Panthers, who have won the division the last two years, will be lead by the always exciting Cam Newton. Their Achilles heel lies in the fact they don’t have any legitimate receiving threats as their second-year star wide out, Kelvin Benjamin is out for the season.

The Saints could very well end up as the division champions come January. A lot of it depends on how Brees, 36, performs in the twilight of his career. While he is still an elite qb, many experts believed he did experience a decline last year. The defense, while young and injured, should still be solid led by defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan. Jimmy Graham did depart, but Brandin Cooks should largely fill this receiving gap. To watch all these players in action, tune into Fox at 4 pm EST this Sunday to watch the Saints take on the Arizona Cardinals.