Sports Betting Blog

This might have been the longest offseason ever experienced by the New Orleans Saints. Don’t mind last year’s break with the extended lockout and the uncertainty of whether we were going to have a football season at all. No, nothing compares to what the Saints have been through this summer. First they went under investigation by the league for allegedly setting up a pay-for-hurt bounty system. The NFL commissioner went on full blast against the Saints organization, banning various players, the head coach, a defensive coordinator and even the general manager for allegedly supporting this bounty system.

And to make things worst, just a few weeks ago, it was still uncertain whether the Saints were going to sign their franshise quarterback, the bound to be Hall of Famer, Drew Brees. So in their first game of the season, playing at the Superdome in New Orleans, the Saints had a huge responsibility. A win against the Redskins was certainly a must. They owed their fans. But the Saints couldn’t deliver. Drew Brees had a very uneasy first game of the season, completing only 24 of 52 passes for 339 yards with three touchdowns and 2 interceptions. It was not good enough and the Washington Redskins took a 40-32 win at New Orleans.

Little did they know that the Washington Redskins newest quarterback, Robert Griffin III was going to come out to his first-ever regular season game playing like an experienced veteran. Griffin, commonly known as RG3, finished his first match with 320 yards in 19 of 26 passing with no interceptions and a passer rating of 139.9. He also scrambled for 42 yards. Robert came out poised, filled with unusual confidence. And he took extraordinary advantage of every little extra second the New Orleans Saints defense gave him. He came out with several short, quick throws, and without missing a beat he completed his first 8 passes. This nice start included his seventh pass, released just before he was smacked down by blitzing safety Malcolm Jenkins. He threw a bullet down the lane to Pierre Garcon over the middle for an 88-yard touchdown. That was good enough to tie the second-longest scoring pass by a quarterback making his NFL debut.

In the postgame press conference, Robert Griffin III was very excited to speak to the press. “I’ve won a high school state championship and a bowl game in college, but to play in the NFL, the pinnacle of it all, and win your first game against a Hall of Famer in Drew Brees, it’s at the top,” Griffin said. “After the game, (Brees) told me he was proud of me. That’s big for him to say after he just lost the game.” On the other hand, the New Orleans Saints had to struggle so much just to stay in the game. They managed to pull within 40-32 on Darren Sproles’ 2-yard reception. But when Washington required a first down to all but put the game away, Griffin delivered a 22-yard strike to tight end Logan Paulsen. And there was no looking back after that. 

When it comes to negotiating a multi-million dollar contract with a professional athlete, we all know t’s all about the money. And yet sometimes negotiations take on other angles and things get complicated. Yes, in the latest blog entries and articles we’ve been writing about the players transfers and the big moves going on in the NBA and the NFL, but this particular case between Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints is still one of our recurring topics. Basically because despite their long relationship and the very successful six years these two parts have failed to reach an agreement and the deadline is right there, right around the corner. If these two can reach an agreement before July 16^th, not only would the two be bound to close on a one-year $16.371 million contract, according to the exclusive-rights franchise tender that restricts the free agent from signing with another team, he could miss out some of the first team practices.

Now, according to some sources close to the negotiations, Drew Brees has said that he will not sign the tender nor will he report to the New Orleans Saints training camp when it begins July 24. It seems as if Brees will try to play this one out and get the team to be a bit more flexible and give him the number he’s been asking for his new contract. He is not expected to miss any regular season games but it seems that he may leave the Saints guessing as to whether he will report in time for the team’s opener against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 9. He insists to keep the upper hand on this.

Now, check this part out. Because of the newly signed collective bargaining agreement, Drew Brees would have until the Tuesday after the 10th regular-season game to sign his tender. If he doesn’t comply with this, he would be prohibited from playing the remainder of the season. If Brees misses any games, his 2012 salary would be a prorated amount of the $16.371 million based on the number of games remaining once he signs his tender. Now, you might think that he is been grossly underpaid, but at the end, that doesn’t seem to be the situation. According to the official records, the New Orleans Saints have offered Brees a contract that would average $19.25 million per year. That’s not bad at all. For instance, that would turn out to be slightly more than the $19.2 million the Denver Broncos gave Peyton Manning. Then again, Brees is three years younger than Peyton Manning who has also undergone 5 neck surgeries, so you would guess that his better health might get him a little more money.

Brees is seeking an average of $20.5 million per year. It seems a bit high for the Saints management which is trying to protect the integrity of the salary cap and their roster. And yet this could go wrong: if Brees played for the franchise tender of $16.37 million this year and $23.57 million in 2013. A long-term contract seems as the most reasonable exit for the Saints so, I’m willing to guess that at the 11^th hour before the deadline the two parts are going to reach an agreement.

Sometimes they say it is all about the money, that’s what makes the world go round. And it seems that the love affair between quarterback Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints couldn’t escape that fate. Despite the rumors that said Drew Brees was a certainly going to stay with the Saints, it has become evident that the two sides of the deal have failed to reach a middle point in the negotiation for the player’s compensation. Considering the risks involved in losing Drew Brees as a free agent this season, the Saints have opted to use their franchise tag on Brees and secure his stay in the club. The franchise tag for a quarterback currently carries a $14.4 million salary cap hit. Still, that figure could easily change and increase significantly later on this off-season when the quarterback cap numbers are re-evaluated by the NFL.

Brees and the New Orleans Saints seemed to be at least $5 million dollars apart when it comes to reaching a price. Particularly for the first three years of the contract. According to the news reports we have gathered, Brees is seeking a contract that averages $23 million per season for the first three years of his deal. To put things into the right perspective, that’s the same amount the Indianapolis Colts are paying Peyton Manning in contract in average for the first three seasons. The Saints on the other hands are offering their quarterback a five-year contract that averages $18 million a year. It seems to be a good overall offer considering that’s pretty much what Peyton Manning and the New England Patriot’s own Tom Brady is making over the same span.

But it seems that for the better part of the negotiation, it is Drew Brees who holds the best hand. His performance since arriving to the Saints in 2006 have been nothing short of amazing. And it’s not just that he’s been putting good numbers, excellent numbers to be more precise. As a matter of fact, the Saints have reached levels of play that seemed unimaginable just a few years before he arrived. Then there is the whole Hurricane Katrina factor. Drew Brees came into New Orleans just a year after the hurricane struck the coast of New Orleans. It has helped to give some faith to the people of New Orleans that their team, formerly known as the Aint’s (because they hadn’t win a thing) went on to unimaginable heights. Not only that but with 28,394 yards, Drew Brees has passed for more yards than any other quarterback in the NFL since he joined the squad in 2006.

Brees was the heart of the 13-3 season with which the Saints moved into the conference finals last season. As if that was not enough, Brees set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2. His prolific passing numbers helped the Saints set a new NFL high for total offensive yards in a season with 7,474. And that’s certainly what’s going to make him have the best hand.

Alex Smith was playing his first postseason game against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, a team that had just finished one of the most proficient regular seasons ever breaking records for most yardage in a single season, and having Drew Brees brake Dan Marino’s 27-year-old record for most passing yards in a season. Truth be said, there were very high expectations for the Saints. They had a brilliant team that relied heavily on the most efficient offense we had seen in over a decade, but the San Francisco 49ers proved once again that perseverance is everything and managed to close a thrilling 32-36 last minute game with a win.

It was an epic battle. For a moment there, it seemed as if the Saints were going to be able to pull of a comeback when Drew Brees completed a 66-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham with only 1:37 left on the game. It looked as if the Saints were going to get it together and recover from a 17-point deficit to keep on their winning run. That was until Alex Smith simply put an end to it all when, with only 9-seconds left of on the game, he connected a 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis to leave the Saints stunned in the field.

At the end, the Saints have no one but themselves to blame for missing out on the Conference Finals. The Saints gave up five turnovers and the San Francisco 49ers just didn’t let that one slide. They practically capitalized on the Saints every mistake, and at the end, Jim Harbaugh’s squad proved that even in the modern, wide-open NFL, a team with a solid game plan and a bullet proof defense can overpower one of the league’s most fluid offenses.

The 49ers won their first playoffs match in 9 years, and now will have to face the New York Giants, who are coming off an impressive win over the most-favorite Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. It might be still a bit early to take a wild guess on how this game is going to evolve, but it seems that with Eli Manning and the Giants getting a powerful boost to the squad stamina, they are going to be a really though team to beat.

According to Stats LLC, Smith made the San Francisco 49ers the first team in NFL history to score two lead-changing touchdowns in the final 3 minutes to win a playoff game. For all we care, he was really the secret ingredient to make this one of the most thrilling and intense games we’ve witnessed in the last few years.

The Saints were coming into San Francisco with the motivation that an almost perfect season had given them. They were confident about their offense, and their star quarterback performance, but at the end, Brees just couldn’t deliver. The Saints starting quarterback had managed to link consecutive 600-yard games, but on Saturday’s afternoon he only completed 40 of 63 passes for 462 yards and four touchdowns and was sacked three times. And that’s when it all went down.