Saints Bounty: New Orleans Must Re-Sign Drew Brees to Distract from PR Nightmare

In what rates as the NFL's biggest scandal since the New England Patriots and "Spygate," the New Orleans Saints were disciplined in a big way on Wednesday for a supposed bounty system.

The organization is in a bad way right now, but signing quarterback Drew Brees to a long-term deal could help repair its image.

Saints head coach Sean Payton will be suspended for the entire 2012 season, while general manager Mickey Loomis earned an eight-game ban and assistant coach Joe Vitt will be out for six games.

Additionally, the Saints were fined $500,000 and docked two second-round picks, while former Saints and current St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely, according to ESPN.

Although bounty systems have been believed to be commonplace in the NFL, the Saints were reportedly asked to stop and failed to do so. Because of that, commissioner Roger Goodell obviously felt as though he had to throw the book at the people responsible for the bounty culture in New Orleans.

Whether it is fair or not, the Saints will be without their head coach for an entire season, and they will be walking on eggshells for the foreseeable future. The organization has to know that it needs to do something positive soon in order to negate the bad press it has received.

The most obvious choice is to re-sign Brees.

The Saints and Brees are currently in a contract dispute of sorts as New Orleans is attempting to franchise him, but Brees has refused to sign the tender. He wants the security of a long-term deal and feels as though he deserves it. It's tough to argue with that school of thought, yet the Saints haven't budged as of yet.

Because of their refusal to give Brees a legitimate contract, the Saints were already starting to look like a bit of a joke. The whole bounty situation has only solidified that notion, so it's time for the front office to make at least one thing right by locking up Brees for the remainder of his career.

It's almost mind boggling that the Saints haven't given in and signed Brees to a big deal. Not only is he coming off a season in which he set single-season records for passing yardage and completion percentage, but he led New Orleans to a Super Bowl win a few years ago. Also, when the city was downtrodden following Hurricane Katrina, Brees chose the Saints anyway and embraced the area.

Brees is the perfect representative for the Saints both on and off the field, and offering him only the franchise tag is sort of a slap in the face. He may be getting up there is years a bit, but if the front office is worried about committing long-term money to a quarterback who is one of the best in the game currently, then there is a major frugality problem.

The best thing the Saints can do this season in order to move past the bounty scandal is win. In sports, winning seems to cure all ills, and if New Orleans is able to have a dominant season then a lot of the talk will shift away from the suspensions.

Without a happy quarterback, though, a great season will be difficult to achieve. Not only would the Brees signing have an immediate impact of positive press, but it would also put the Saints in a position to succeed moving forward. New Orleans has already dropped the ball on one front, so it simply cannot afford to do it on another.