The economics of the NFL are sometimes just as important as the actual Xs and Os. For example, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees carries a prodigious salary cap hit of $30 million in 2016. For comparison, that's nearly $7 million more than the biggest cap hit for a quarterback this year, which is Brees at $23.8 million.
According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Brees absolutely "has to take a hometown discount" in order to stay with the team long-term. Though he may be a future Hall of Famer, $30 million is just too high of a number and it sounds as if it's rubbing the Saints the wrong way. According to Rapoport, New Orleans remains perturbed that Brees insisted on receiving a max contract in 2012. The organization feels as if this move left little money to be spent on the rest of the roster and created a plethora of depth issues that have plagued the team ever since.
In all likelihood, Brees will restructure his contract and take a slight pay cut for the 2016 season. But if he's reluctant to do that, parting ways with the franchise quarterback isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. The Saints have been trying to clean up their clogged cap sheet for years and Brees, who 13-17 since the start of the 2014 season and approaching his 37th birthday, could be seen as a cap casualty or a trade chip. It's not likely, but it's within the realm of possibility.
Brees is currently playing through a torn plantar fascia yet still managed to tear up the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday for 412 yards and three touchdowns. On the season, he is completing 67.7 percent of his passes and has thrown for 4,547 yards with 31 TDs against just 11 INTs. Clearly, he's still got a lot left in the tank.
A trade of Brees would save the Saints $20 million in salary cap money (though they'd eat $10 million in dead money). According to Spotrac, New Orleans is already $4.7 million over next year's projected salary cap of $150 million. Changes are coming one way or the other.
