Saints Fans Shouldn't Worry About Drew Brees' Contract...Yet

Lots of pixels and ink are being spilled over the status of contract negotiations between Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Sports Illustrated's Peter King is just the latest member of the national media to fan the flames on this slowly burning fire in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column. 

To his credit, King starts off by saying he doesn't think it's a very big deal that Brees isn't playing quarterback for the Saints during organized team activities—which is 100 percent true. Yes, this team is set to embark on a pretty unconventional season where they will have their head coach sitting at home while two assistants try to fill his shoes. 

And yes, the absence of Sean Payton for the entire season does create a void when it comes to the designing and implementation of the Saints' offense. But offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr.is more than capable of holding the offensive reins while Brees is away dealing with his contract. 

On the other side of the ball, new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will start his defensive installment during OTAs and minicamps. This will be a much more important time for Saints defensive players, since they will be learning a whole new defense complete with new assignments and new terminology. 

For the guys on offense, it will be much more about reviewing what they already know, save for the odd rookie, like wide receiver Nick Toon. Even then, a rookie receiver will spend much more time learning the ins and outs of an offense, along with his assignments, than he will building any kind of rapport with a veteran quarterback. 

Now, when training camp starts and the pads come on—that's when Drew Brees needs to be the one throwing passes. 

There is always the possibility, of course, that Brees plays 2012 under a one-year franchise tender—but that seems a remote possibility, at best. 

As Brees told ESPN's Mike and Mike back in March (via PFT):

"

I’ve played under the franchise tag before, back in 2005, and that ended with 13 anchors in my right shoulder and a 25 percent chance of playing football again. That didn’t work out too well for me.

I’ve talked to the Saints about this many times. They definitely know my desire to have a long-term deal, and hopefully they want me to have that as well. We will continue discussions and hopefully get a long-term deal done.

"

As King smartly points out, opening Sunday for the 2012 NFL season is 16 weeks from yesterday. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say we'll start to see movement on Brees' contract in roughly 10 to 12 weeks.

Remember, deadlines spur action. OTAs and minicamps were never a real deadline because the team knows a lot of the work being done now can be done without Brees and it won't harm the development of this year's team.

But once training camp is looming, things will get serious and you can expect the Saints and Brees to bridge their differences.

If not—then Saints fans can start to worry...