FanPost

Making a Big Play for Drew Brees

Is Drew Brees an option for the 2018 Browns? This would be a real shock but, not inconceivable. I recently read that Brees doesn’t intend to give the Saints a hometown discount and is looking for at least a 3 year $75M contract with $50M guaranteed.


From the Browns perspective 2 or 3 years is ideal as they should be able to elevate either this year’s #1 draft choice or Kizer to the level of a capable NFL quarterback in that length of time. In the interim the franchize would have a HOF quarterback on his twilight tour capable of providing play at a level unseen in Cleveland since Otto Graham (relatively speaking). The Browns currently have and should have for the next 2 to 3 years the cap space to handle that kind of contract. In fact the Browns should not have to be aggressive cap managers until 2021 or 2022 by which time Brees will have moved on to another team or retirement.


From the perspective of Drew Brees the Browns biggest weakness for a new quarterback is the offensive coordinator and play calling. As a HOF veteran quarterback he will be empowered to craft his own game plan and even call most of his own plays. For support the offensive line is good and even excellent should Joe come back to play in 2018. The young athletic TEs would be appealing, Duke Johnson is an excellent back and Gordon/Coleman is a good start to a WR corps. With 6 of the first 65 draft choices the FO could promise Brees more talent at WR & RB. In addition the Browns defense is more than capable and given a functional offense would be very tough. Brees was willing to take on the Saints as the city rebounded from Katrina. He could launch a political career from Cleveland if he were to restore the Browns to prominence.


So what teams would the Browns have to beat in a competition for Brees?


The Saints obviously will want to keep him but they currently have only $32M in cap space, 18 UFAs and few current contracts that could be cut to provide more cap space. Their current cap space is with only 42 players so I would assume the real number is more like $27M. Most teams need to plan on about $10M to sign their draft choices. The Saints have a low 1st, 3rd, 4th, 2-5ths, 2-6ths and 7th so it might be a little less, say $8M. If the contract was $30M/2018 guaranteed, $25M/2019 guaranteed and a mutual option of $20M for 2020 could the Saints match that? I believe that they would have to make it a 5 year contract with a signing bonus to spread the cap hit over more years. Guess we would then find out if Brees would give a discount and/or how toxic players consider playing for the Browns.


Other QB needy teams include Arizona (approx. $31M cap space), Jacksonville ($37M by releasing Bortles), Denver ($29M), Buffalo ($42M by releasing Taylor), Washington ($52M), Minnesota ($53M) and New York Jets ($74M). Most of those teams would struggle financially with a 3/$75/$50 type offer. Of those that could manage the funds would they have a young QB to craft for the post Brees era? Additionally teams like the Redskins and Jets although less toxic than the Browns have not been covered in glory for most of the past 20 years.


I’d like to see the Browns make the effort and also draft a future QB at #1 or #4. Of course the Browns’ luck over the past 20 years would dictate that Brees immediately falls victim to an injury.



This is a fan-created post. Dawgs By Nature assumes no responsibility for the content listed.