Drew Brees - 5th to be franchised

[joeshmo]

Report from Clayton on ESPN says it is a done deal.

That now makes 5 of them so far. Teams have until Feb 22nd to put a tag on someone.

DT - Corey Simon - Eagles
DE - John Abraham - Jets
DE - Darren Howard - Saints
OT - Orlando Pace - Rams
QB - Drew Brees - Chargers

 

[Evil Ash]

No surprises thus far.

The only choice that will be really intriguing (as it comes to the franchise tag) will be Seattle's choice between Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselback, and Walter Jones. This could be one messy offseason for the Seahawks.

 

[joeshmo]

No surprises thus far.

The only choice that will be really intriguing (as it comes to the franchise tag) will be Seattle's choice between Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselback, and Walter Jones. This could be one messy offseason for the Seahawks.

Especially when they still dont have anything that resembles a complete front office yet. And that issue is compounded with 16 UFA, 9 of which are starters.

Here is a good article about their front office turmiol.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002174779_hawk09.html

 

[Renz]

No surprises thus far.

The only choice that will be really intriguing (as it comes to the franchise tag) will be Seattle's choice between Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselback, and Walter Jones. This could be one messy offseason for the Seahawks.

Seattle will end up tagging Jones (again) and re-signing Hasselbeck. Alexander will be playing elsewhere next season.

JMHO.

 

[Stout]

Wow, the Chargers cap is going to be really screwed. What do they do with Rivers now?

 

[ajcardfan]

Seattle will end up tagging Jones (again) and re-signing Hasselbeck. Alexander will be playing elsewhere next season.

JMHO.

They've already tagged Jones twice, and if they tag him again he gets a 20% raise over what he got last year. It would be really stupid to tag him. He's the one they should get signed before free agency begins, but they don't have their crap together.

 

[ajcardfan]

Wow, the Chargers cap is going to be really screwed. What do they do with Rivers now?

Nah, they had 20 mil in space. Really, it's simple. They tag Brees and see if he can do it again. Then, they can trade one or the other next year.

 

[az jam]

We still need to see what the Colts will do with Edgerin James. They spent big bucks on Manning and Harrison. I don't know their cap situation but James has stated that he would love to play in Miami.

 

[Stout]

Nah, they had 20 mil in space. Really, it's simple. They tag Brees and see if he can do it again. Then, they can trade one or the other next year.

20 mill? I guess this was the right year for them to run into this problem, then.

 

[joeshmo]

We still need to see what the Colts will do with Edgerin James. They spent big bucks on Manning and Harrison. I don't know their cap situation but James has stated that he would love to play in Miami.

He gets franchised and they look to give him a long term deal, trade him, or keep him for the one year tender offer which they can do with a little over 15 mill in cap space that they have and still have enough room for other resigns and FA's.

 

[wierwolf]

Peyton has already stated that he would take the nessesary financial adjustments to resign the Edge. So we will see. Who hasn't Said they wanted to be the RB for Miami that's a FA?

 

[john h]

Wow, the Chargers cap is going to be really screwed. What do they do with Rivers now?

Most writers have been writing all along they would do just what happened and they will keep Rivers on the bench for one more year of training and make sure Brees is the real deal.

 

[JasonKGME]

Nah, they had 20 mil in space. Really, it's simple. They tag Brees and see if he can do it again. Then, they can trade one or the other next year.

Only problem with this concept is they are 20 mil in space THIS YEAR!! What happens during the off season this year and what does that do to thier cap space next year? I mean if they end up only 5 mil under to start next year then they dont have the cap space to re-franchise Brees which means they could end up losing him for absolutly nothing, or having to cut another player that they dont want to lose to make room to keep and trade Brees/Rivers at that time. Does SD want to take that chance?

 

[Cardiholic]

Do you have a link to that Clayton article ? I've been looking everywhere and I can't find it.

 

[Snakester]

Many people have been predicting that Brees would get franchised. Of course it does make sense. Most likely SD will keep him at least one more year before they decide to either trade him or Rivers.

 

[ajcardfan]

Only problem with this concept is they are 20 mil in space THIS YEAR!! What happens during the off season this year and what does that do to thier cap space next year? I mean if they end up only 5 mil under to start next year then they dont have the cap space to re-franchise Brees which means they could end up losing him for absolutly nothing, or having to cut another player that they dont want to lose to make room to keep and trade Brees/Rivers at that time. Does SD want to take that chance?

With Brees taking up nine mil of cap space, that guarantees that they cannot wind up with only 5 mil of cap space next offseason. Using my good math skills, that would mean they'd already have at least 9 mil next offseason. Face it, they are not giving away Brees or Rivers. They are in too good of shape cap wise to dump one this offseason.

 

[Shane]

Nah, they had 20 mil in space. Really, it's simple. They tag Brees and see if he can do it again. Then, they can trade one or the other next year.

If they were going to trade Brees it would be in their best ineterest to do it now. He will have his highest value IMO. I highly doubt he tops last season or even equals it for that matter.

They could end up losing Brees and have a complete bust in Rivers. Thats very possible.

 

[ajcardfan]

If they were going to trade Brees it would be in their best ineterest to do it now. He will have his highest value IMO. I highly doubt he tops last season or even equals it for that matter.

They could end up losing Brees and have a complete bust in Rivers. Thats very possible.

And that's why they are under no compulsion to trade Brees now, short of a monster trade offer. The safer move is to hang onto both QBs until they are sure of exactly what they have in Rivers. This is not a team that has flung a lot of backloaded contracts out there in recent years. If they have 20 mil in space this offseason, they almost certainly have even more than that for next year. Now, if they have several big payments due next year, it's a different story. But, I haven't heard of any such thing, have you?

 

[Shane]

And that's why they are under no compulsion to trade Brees now, short of a monster trade offer. The safer move is to hang onto both QBs until they are sure of exactly what they have in Rivers. This is not a team that has flung a lot of backloaded contracts out there in recent years. If they have 20 mil in space this offseason, they almost certainly have even more than that for next year. Now, if they have several big payments due next year, it's a different story. But, I haven't heard of any such thing, have you?

To me cap space isnt the issue. Its getting what you can when you can. Brees undoubtedly has his highest trade value right now. You could get a 1st and probably more for him as a "franchise QB has loads of value" Brees is viewed as one right now.

If Brees comes in next year and lays an egg then they blew the chance to get great talent in return and are another year behind in seeing exactly what Rivers has.

 

[ajcardfan]

To me cap space isnt the issue. Its getting what you can when you can. Brees undoubtedly has his highest trade value right now. You could get a 1st and probably more for him as a "franchise QB has loads of value" Brees is viewed as one right now.

If Brees comes in next year and lays an egg then they blew the chance to get great talent in return and are another year behind in seeing exactly what Rivers has.

Well, if they really believe last year was a fluke, then yes, trading him would be what they should do. To me, it doesn't look like they've taken Shane H's talent evaluation of Brees to heart. I think they are afraid of giving up Brees, who plays well elsewhere, while Rivers struggles as a first year starter. They are probably thinking crazy stuff like they can go to the Super Bowl next year too.

 

[Shane]

Well, if they really believe last year was a fluke, then yes, trading him would be what they should do. To me, it doesn't look like they've taken Shane H's talent evaluation of Brees to heart. I think they are afraid of giving up Brees, who plays well elsewhere, while Rivers struggles as a first year starter. They are probably thinking crazy stuff like they can go to the Super Bowl next year too.

I agree. I like Brees but I dont see him haveing a career of years like his last. I think he will be somewhere in between that guy and the guy that had a passer rating in the 60s the year prior.

I certianly dont think they are interested IMOs. But I am