Brees, Bradford start final season of expiring deals in ‘MNF’ opener
QBS of Saints, Vikings traveled different paths
MINNEAPOLIS — Drew Brees has reached the home stretch of his extraordinary career, preferring to play out the final year of his contract with New Orleans while trying to bring the Saints back to the playoffs.
Then he will figure out what’s next. Sam Bradford is coming off a career-best season for Minnesota; he also is playing 2017 on an expiring deal. What the Vikings decide to do next year about his position, with 2014 firstround draft pick Teddy Bridgewater still in rehabilitation mode for his left knee, remains unclear.
When the Saints visit the Vikings in their opener Monday, Brees and Bradford will formally begin a season that has put each player in a relatively awkward position: the rare established NFL quarterback on a path toward free agency. They’re at different stages with
dissimilar track records, but here they are, both coming off remarkably accurate performances in 2016 for teams that didn’t match their excellence.
Brees had another ho-hum, league-leading 5,208 yards passing, a record seventh time he’s topped the NFL.
He completed exactly 70 percent of his passes, while the Saints went a soso 7-9 for a third straight year.
Bradford set the all-time record for completion percentage (71.6) and threw for a career-most 3,877 yards in 15 games after Bridgewater’s injury forced an emergency trade with Philadelphia right before the regular season. Bradford had a mere 10 turnovers despite a leaky offensive line that helped shape the context for a sharp fade to an 8-8 finish following a 5-0 start.
No matter what happens this year, barring injury, Brees ($19 million) and Bradford ($18 million) will count a lot more than that in 2018 against their team’s salary cap. True to their form as the classy leader, neither player has come close to publicly expressing disenchantment with his deal.
“My sense of urgency is in making myself and my team better and putting ourselves in the best position to go out this year and have success,” said Brees, a 10-time Pro Bowl pick who will turn 39 in January. “I know that that stuff takes care of itself. It takes care of itself when it’s supposed to. And that just shouldn’t be the priority right now.”
Bradford, the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, has not enjoyed the same level of success that Brees has. But even as a middle-of-the-pack starter in the NFL, he will be in line for a big payday. If he performs under pressure as he did in 2016, the Vikings could have no choice but to commit to him even if Bridgewater’s status is still unsettled. To this point, the two sides have not talked about a new deal.
“If something changes then I would look at it, but at this time it’s really not on my radar,” said Bradford, who will turn 30 in November.