Forget Peyton Manning, Drew Brees is Now the Biggest Free Agency Enigma

2012 must indeed be the year of the Mayan Apocalypse, because after watching the seemingly inconceivable divorce between quarterback Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts unfold over the past few months, a story is now brewing 700 miles to the south that is even more unfathomable:  Negotiations between the New Orleans Saints and star quarterback Drew Brees appear to be growing uglier by the day.

A report by Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports stated Thursday that the 33-year-old Brees, who threw for an NFL record 5,476 yards in 2011, and the team remain $5-6 million a year apart in regards to Brees' annual salary. According to Cole, some within the organization may be trying to sell the idea that Brees isn't as good as he thinks he is:

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That was the word coming out of the NFL scouting combine this past week, when Saints general manager Mickey Loomis tried to define Brees as “very good” when the quarterback was called “great,” according to three league sources. All three sources were asking Loomis why it was taking so long to sign Brees to a contract extension. Loomis’ answer spoke volumes.

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However, it appears that Loomis and the Saints aren't the only stumbling block in negotiations. Larry Holder of CBS Sports offered a very interesting counterpoint on Friday with a report that Brees and agent Tom Condon turned down an offer last season that would have made Brees the National Football League's highest-paid player.

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The Saints offered Brees a long-term contract before the 2011 season that would have made him the highest-paid player in the NFL and Brees and his agent, Tom Condon turned the contract down, a league source told CBSSports.com.

"[General manager Mickey Loomis] offered Brees the highest-paid contract in NFL history," the source said. "Does that not equate with great or elite?"

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If the Saints and Brees can't agree to terms on an extension before March 5th, the Saints could always apply the franchise tag to Brees. But the team had better make sure it's the more expensive exclusive rights tender. Should New Orleans apply the non-exclusive tag, it's a real possibility that some NFL team with a boatload of cap space won't be scared off even by the idea of sacrificing two first-round picks and will make Brees an offer so ridiculous that the Saints will be backed into a corner.

This entire situation has undoubtedly left many Saints fans screaming at their laptops and hurling their remote controls across the room, and Holder's colleague at CBS Sports Mike Freeman shares their frustration:

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What the hell are the Saints doing? I've said this before. There are certain players, only a handful, where you open the vault and roll out the cash. You give them a blank check. Brees is one of those players. Franchising Brees is going to anger him, no question. Players despise the tag because it limits their earning potential. So you've ticked off your best player. For what? Why?

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As crazy as this whole situation is becoming, these developments raise an even crazier possibility, albeit a remote one, that at least some in the New Orleans front office may be creating contingency plans for the departure of the face of the franchise.

That possibility may be crazy, and it may be remote, but I'll wager that these developments have sent personnel across the NFL scrambling into meetings, as just the idea of Drew Brees becoming available is enough to turn Peyton Manning from the high mileage Ferrari of free agency to a 2005 Malibu with 95,000 miles on the odometer and a dented fender.

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