Report: Cardinals offered contract to Drew Brees before 2018 season
Mar 2, 2020, 4:00 PM | Updated: 9:56 pm
Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints reacts after a second quarter rushing touchdown by Alvin Kamara #41 (not pictured) against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 05, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
A recent report on various quarterback news from this weekend’s NFL Combine included a tidbit related to some Arizona Cardinals history.
According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler, who wrote on quarterbacks around the league and the combine, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is expected to re-sign with his longtime team before the start of NFL free agency. He did the same thing in 2018, but at that time, Brees reportedly got an offer from the Cardinals:
A source said the current plan is for Brees to sign before free agency, similar to two years ago, when he had a lucrative offer from Arizona (two years, $60 million) but never entertained it. Brees’ stance on that was that he’s trying to win Super Bowls, not earn a few extra million dollars. He still feels that way, so he probably won’t enter free agency unless something goes awry.
This report is consistent with buzz from around that time, like a March of 2018 report from ESPN’s Mike Triplett that said “at least one other team was willing to give Brees $60 million guaranteed over two years.” Denver sports radio host Les Shapiro said then that team was the Cardinals.
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That was the same offseason that the Cardinals instead signed veteran Sam Bradford to a one-year, $20 million contract before waiving him midseason in November. Josh Rosen, who had just been drafted, took over for the Cardinals, and you know the rest: The Cardinals drafted a new quarterback the very next year in Kyler Murray.
Brees has since led the league in completion percentage in each of the last two seasons, amassing 6,971 yards and 59 touchdowns to just nine interceptions in that span of 26 games. He has a 21-5 record in that time frame.
