Getting to the point where Brees signed on the dotted line yesterday was a long and hard road. The understatement of the century is that this was welcomed news amidst one of the worst offseasons for a team in sports history. But even despite the public black eye, the constant scrunity and the numerous suspensions that will plague the Saints for the entire 2012 season – yesterday gave us all renewed reason for optimism. The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter who is coaching and it doesn’t matter who he plays with, if Drew Brees is on the field the Saints at least have a chance. 2007 and 2008, which were both incredibly disappointing seasons that ended with mediocre to average records for the team due to lack of talent across the defense, still included competitive games almost exclusively due to Brees. In 2009 he had an above average defense to work with and he won the Super Bowl. Last year, he had a poor defense and more dangerous weapons than ever before and it led to a 13-3 season. Without him, the season was a lost cause and the Saints would crash and burn their way to a sub .500 record. With him, it offers no guarantees, but a mountain of hope that at it’s peak dangles a Super Bowl title.
The reality of this situation is the Saints needed Drew Brees more now than ever before, and they need him happy and committed. Even if Brees had signed his one year franchise tender, he wouldn’t have come with the latter. Having him “under contract” just simply wasn’t good enough. They needed him to come in motivated by the security of a long term contract. Why? Because this year it’s on Brees to lead the team in a way he never has before. A long term deal tells Brees the team is invested in him for the duration of his career. Now the ball is back in his court to live up to that commitment. The “head coach” may be Joe Vitt, but he’ll be out the first six games of the season. Aaron Kromer, or someone else, may step in and replace Vitt – but the truth is it will fall on Brees’ shoulders to give more input into the game planning and motivate the troops. The buck stops with Brees in 2012, both on the field and off of it. They say when a superstar player gets injured it’s never one player replacing him. It’s a number of guys increasing their roles to make up for the loss. Well, with Sean Payton as a superstar coach suspended, Brees may not replace him but his leadership duties increase tenfold.
So congrats on the richest contract in NFL history, Drew, but now it’s time to go to work. Get ready to prove you’ll earn every penny because you’re going to be put to the test in 2012 in a way you’ve never been before. I know you’re up for it.
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