The Texans face future Hall of Fame Quarterback Drew Brees Sunday, and despite rumors from fans and media, the possibility of Brees becoming a Texan next year is remote at best.
As the Texans prepare to battle the Saints today, Many locals are viewing the opposing first ballot hall of fame quarterback Drew Brees as a potential short-gap acquisition to take the reins at quarterback next season. Rumors in Saints world is that the team is looking to rebuild and eliminate Brees’ humongous salary cap number, which according to overthecap.com stands at a mind-blowing 30 million bucks next season in his final year under contract(yes you read that right 30 million bucks!).
Cutting the Saints’ franchise saviour would save $20 million immediately and position them to begin the rebuilding process immediately with a huge amount of cap cash to pursue free agents. So it seems like a lock that Brees will be cut right? Not so fast my friend (in my Lee Corso voice).
First of all, the Saints are in position to still make one final run if they can extend and restructure Brees’ contract, which I’m sure will be their number one priority heading into the offseason. Brees will be 37 years old in January, and he’s likely to get a 2-3 year extension which would carry him into the end of his thirties, where most accomplished quarterbacks get of the horse and appreciate the ride.
Despite rumors of a separation at head coach, I think that Sean Peyton isn’t going anywhere. He’s done a stellar job with that program and although he will have the ability to exit his contact if there is an ownership transition in the Big Easy, I don’t anticipate the boss leaving. There are not going to be as many premium job/location opportunities at head coach this offseason where a team could lure him away.
Unless Dallas decides to part ways with head coach Jason Garrett, there isn’t another position that would lure him away, and I can foresee the Saints making the investment to ensure that the Brees/Payton duo stays in tact for the next 3 years.
If Brees decides to test the free agent market, I think that Houston would be very low on the list of possibilities for him to consider. Of course it’s cool to consume massive amounts of HEB ice cream and have the most disruptive defensive player in the league on your team, and having a top 3 receiver in Deandre Hopkins definitely is a plus also. However, the Texans have far too many holes on the offensive side of the ball that they cannot address quickly enough to make a move to the other side of the Gulf of Mexico a logical decision.
Besides the fact that the Texans will have limited cap space next season (http://overthecap.com/salary-cap/houston-texans/) The weapons not named Hopkins aren’t exactly what you’d put into a Powerpoint presentation in an attempt to woo an aging stalwart quarterback who has 3 seasons at best left in him.
Arian Foster’s career is on life support, and to be honest that may be a generous statement. Additionally his $9 million dollar cap figure makes him a high-probability salary cap casualty.
Duane Brown has been a great left tackle for many years but the repetitive pounding that a left tackle of his caliber receives is starting to show. At over $9.5 million towards the cap over the next two seasons, it’s going to be interesting to see if the Texans hold on to the big fella or decide to draft some young beef at a lower cost.
DeAndre Hopkins has one more year under his rookie contract (and the Texans can extend one more year), but you know that he’s about to get paid. Big time. It would totally shock me if Hopkins walks into camp next season and doesn’t haul in a top-5 wide receiver salary. He may actually dominate his contract negotiations more than he did Darelle Revis last week (Hopkins may actually build a resort on Revis Island by the way since he now owns it).
The offensive line still leaves much to be desired, and I’ll just leave that statement as is, because breaking down the concerns there would be lengthier than writing another article.
All things being said, a situation where Brees comes to Houston just doesn’t make sense from a business perspective for him. Of course Texans fans are waiting for a great quarterback to call their own, but the ship has sailed on Brees being a Texan. If you watch or attend the game just appreciate the greatness that he brings to the game even though you’ll be cheering for J.J. Watt to get his hands on him.