Saints quarterback Drew Brees currently makes $20 million per year. At least one teammate thinks he should get that and more.
Offensive lineman Zach Strief told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Sunday that Brees deserves whatever he gets from the team.
“Nobody deserves to be paid and to be compensated more than him,” Strief said, via Christopher Dabe of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “No one puts in more time. Nobody is more important to this team and this locker room. To us, as players, there’s nobody that we feel is more important to take care of than that guy. Drew’s contract will get done. Obviously with a guy that valuable, that contract takes time.”
Strief called Brees a “robot” who follows his weekly routine to the minute.
“I can tell you when Drew is going to be in the tight ends room on a Thursday during the season, what time he’s going to be there,” Strief said. “After practice on a given day, where he’s going to be and what time. It’s amazing. . . . You know exactly what you’re getting out of him.”
The team may be concerned that what it’s getting out of Brees will change after another major financial commitment is made, not because of anything Brees chooses to do but because of the inevitable dissipation of his skills due to the natural aging process. Players don’t get paid for past performance; they get paid for current performance and anticipated play in the future.
At some point between now and his 50th birthday, Brees won’t be the guy he once was. The Saints surely don’t want to be committed to Brees for multiple years into the future and many millions in guaranteed money once that happens.
