Saints and Brees haven’t resume talks in 3 months
Suggs among 6 players on PUP list
WASHINGTON, July 24, (RTRS): Quarterback Drew Brees apparently won’t have a new deal in place before the New Orleans Saints kick off training camp next week even though he heads into the final season of his contract. Brees said Saturday the Saints haven’t resumed negotiations with him in the last three months.
“Not sure why things have not progressed,” Brees told ESPN.com in Metairie, La. “They made an offer in March, we made an offer shortly thereafter. And besides the Josh Norman deal (when the Saints approached Brees about restructuring his contract to try to fit the free agent cornerback under their salary cap), there has been no talk about a contract since.”
The 37-year-old Brees was confident last month of a new contract coming from Saints. Without a new deal, the Saints would let Brees play out the year with a salary-cap figure of $30 million.
Brees, who has said he would not discuss his contract during the season, reiterated he wants a deal done by the start of the season on Sept 11.
Linebackers Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil and receiver Steve Smith Jr are among six players who will start the Baltimore Ravens’ training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Also placed on the list were receiver Breshad Perriman, running back Trent Richardson and cornerback Jumal Rolle, the team announced Saturday.
A player placed on the PUP list can be activated at any point during training camp. But if they are still on the list at the start of the regular season, they must sit out the first six games.
Quarterback Joe Flacco (knee) wasn’t on the list so he will be available for the team’s first full-squad practice on Thursday.
A day after reports surfaced that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell faces a four-game suspension for missing a drug test, the NFL Network reported Saturday that Bell actually missed several.
Those missed tests violate the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
Friday, sources told ESPN that the suspension is the result of a missed drug test, not a failed one. Bell’s appeal is expected to be heard before the start of the season.
If the appeal is not overturned, Bell would miss the first four games of the season. Players are tested once for recreational drugs between April 20 and July.
The Chicago Bears placed offensive lineman Nate Chandler on the reserve/ retired list.
Chandler’s retirement came after the team also announced cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman had been placed on reserve-retired. Tillman used social media to announce his retirement on Monday, then signed a one-day contract to retire as a member of the Bears on Friday.
The 27-year-old Chandler signed with the Bears last month after being released by the Carolina Panthers in March.
The Cleveland Browns signed veteran defensive lineman Nick Hayden to add needed depth.
The Browns were looking for help after defensive end Desmond Bryant suffered a torn pectoral muscle during a workout. Bryant is expected to miss the entire 2016 season.
The 6-foot-3, 295-pound Hayden, 30, started the last three.