Jason Cole article: Brees - 3rd Franchise Tag? CBA Wording

I sure hope this stance from Drew is only a bluff based on the recent talk that the Saints wouldn't go above a certain figure for guaranteed money. The figure was the total of the three years of franchise tag money, IIRC, so this could just be a way for Brees to say not so fast, you may not have a third tag available.

What I find much more troubling is the statement by 2 other GMs in the Cole article:

Loomis is also trying to crunch some different logic with his fellow executives. Last week, two executives from other teams said Loomis was saying he intended to keep Brees' contract in line with being "one of the top five quarterbacks in the league."

"I think Mickey has dug himself in on his logic and there's no way to get him out of that thinking right now," the source said. "That's why they are where they are right now."

This, along with Cole saying that the offer is currently between 17-18 million, which is lower than the "highest contract in NFL history" that we heard so much about, is alarming to me. This may have gotten much worse than we think behind the scenes. Brees, IMO, deserves to be paid the top contract, and to have management say no, you are top five, would be galling to him.