Congrats to Brees

Congrats to drew brees on the contract! Class act player and one of the NFL's elite. Im sure Rodgers will top that contract soon enough though

here's to another victory against the saints in september!

I just hope when it's Rodgers' turn, he's not a crybaby diva about it like Brees was.

Morningwood did say the contract would get done.

$5 says Matthews contract is more of an issue than Arods

First thing I thought of when I saw this was "How will this affect A-Rods contract issue?" Hope the Saints don't screw us over by setting the bar too high

1st year.......40M gtd. If he's not cut, 2nd year.....another 15M gtd. 3rd.....another 5M gtd.......and a 10.4M 2012 cap hit.

I would say the bar is set for AR to cash-in nicely.

I foresee another stock sale.

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints have reached an agreement on a five-year, $100 million contract that includes a first-year take in 2012 of $40 million, according to league, players' union and team sources.

For all practical purposes, the guaranteed money is considered by all parties involved to be an NFL-record $60 million, though there are contractual, but unlikely, outs for the Saints before he would receive all of that sum.

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The NFL owners has strict orders that the Green Bay Packers can only use Packer stock sale revenue for improvement of the Lambeau Field facility. If the Packers want to have another Stock Sale, the NFL owners would have to approve it. And again, it could not be used for players contracts. The Green Bay Packers management will not have another Stock sale for many years.

Packers net profit ($42.7M) for Packer fiscal year ending 3/31/12 was highest in Pack er history. The Packers
in 2012 are in great financial shape.

The amount of money/cap space it's gonna take for Rodgers when he re-signs might mean we have to let a guy like Greg Jennings go. Hopefully not Clay Matthews.
That is the problem with huge success. We're lucky we got Jordy re-signed last year for cheap.
And James Jones.

Pretty sure brees n Arod have the agent

While I'll say Brees is a very good, one of a kind QB, I'm not a big fan of the huge contracts, and while I am HAPPY to see the Saints sign this one large, and am hoping it holds them back, I hope some guys on our team don't try to mimic getting the Packers to sign the largest contract money wise. I think we did that back with Farve, it makes the game more focused on ME FIRST, and that affects the team in the long term.

What a crybaby. 19.5 million a year wasnt enough? Does he have mobsters to pay off?

As a Packers fan I was hoping Brees would hold out until the season starts – obviously that was unlikely since Brees was asking for “a little” more than $20M/yr and the Saints were offering “a little” less than $20M/yr. But it’s not like Brees’ family was going to starve if he sat out so I’m a bit mystified why Packers fans would “celebrate” his signing.

I thought the same thing when I read the title of this thread. Why celebrate the enormous contract. The more Brees signed for, the more Rodgers will expect and the bigger the impact on the Packers roster.

Haven't you heard? Drew Brees is the nicest guy in the NFL.

He needs the money to help rebuild the entire city of New Orleans.

/sarcasm

It's not about the organization's money at all. It's the cap money. Monster individual contracts restrict signing of other key players. A contract like that could limit they what can give to Matthews, Raji and Jennings and everybody else.
I used to tell my children about wealth like this: take a napkin and put a dot in center. The napkin represents the total amount you can buy in the world. The dot represents what you can buy. Draw a small circle around the dot and that's what a wealthy person can afford to buy. Draw a larger dot and explain that's what the world's wealthiest can afford. And so on and so on. At some point you have to be realistic, even the Queen of England can't buy it all. So what is enough? I'm hoping Rodgers recognizes that the more he keeps for himself the less we have to spread to other worthy players. He seems to be that caliber of player... I hope I'm correct.
Brees supporters would ask me what would I do and candidly I'd take the larger view. I would want rings and I'd be willing to spend some of my salary to get them. But that's me, I like being the best.

The Brees Contract thing is one of the main reasons I'd be the worst GM ever.
I'd pay him a super over the top contract; (like 65 mil a year) and cut all the good players, just to spite him for being greedy.... then I'd quit... see Brees try and carry a bunch of Scabs & Practice Squad quality players to the playoffs.

The following starting players are set to be free agents in the next year or two. I didn't include everyone, because most of the players who will be free agents aren't exactly difference maker or key personnel, or, in the case of Driver, are probably going to retire:

Ryan Pickett- 2014
Marshall Newhouse- 2014
Clay Matthews – 2014
TJ Lang- 2013
James Jones – 2014
Greg Jennings – 2013
Finley- 2014
EDS- 2013
Morgan Burnett – 2014
BJ Raji- 2014
Rodgers- 2015

I don't think Pickett will be resigned due to age and the fact that we, more or less, drafted his replacement this season.

Newhouse looks to be our starting left tackle for the foreseeable future. He played really well for a first year guy last season, so I expect him to get a pretty decent deal, though I expect it to be below market value unless he plays at a pro-bowl level. With Derek Sherrod waiting in the wings, though, the Packers have a bit more leverage.

Matthews is largely underpaid and deserves to have an extension. I expect the extension to be done this season. Same with Raji's extension.

TJ Lang will also be extended this season, allowing us to keep the continuity on the offensive line.

James Jones- Gone, unless he really steps up. He's "Just a guy," and we have plenty of depth and prospects at the position.

Greg Jennings- I'd love to keep him and think we will, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the non-exclusive franchise tag as a way of assessing his market value. While I think he's very good, he's not a crucial cog in our offense like Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson are. This year's training camp and pre-season will show us what kind of depth we're looking at with our prospects, which will also show us what kind of leverage Jennings will have.

Finley- He's in a prove it year. Failure to separate himself or make a huge impact on the game will make it unlikely we'll pick up the $7 Million option next season.

Evan Dietrich-Smith- It's expected he'll take over when Saturday retires in a couple years, so I think he'll be extended.

Morgan Burnett- this year is an important one for Burnett, but I think his extension will come in the off-season.

Aaron Rodgers- Of all the players on the list, none are more important than Rodgers, and his value is easily more than Brees. My guess is he'll get an extension after some of the other deals for Jennings, Raji and Matthews are worked out, though it will likely be after the season is over. It may also be to his best interest to wait for the new TV money to kick in before negotiating an extension, though it certainly entails some risk.

Agree mostly Sparta Chris.

Newhouse may be the long term answer at LT but this is a prove it season for him as well as Finley who you mentioned.
Burnett didn't play as well as I thought he should in 2011.
Not sure EDS is the center replacement. I think that replacement is still out there.
Aren't the points about Jones and Jennings a bit at odds? I think Jennings is more important than you give him credit for. He stretches the field. Can't lose him especially if you turn loose of Finley and Jones.

From what I've read about Newhouse, the coaching staff seems to be pretty satisfied with the progress he's made thus far. I agree this is kind of a prove it season for him, but I don't think he needs to make dramatic improvement to keep his job. I believe, barring any major set-backs, he's locked in.

Jones is gone for a different reason than Jennings. Jones is mostly just another guy at the position, and with all the depth we have at the position, plus our willingness to let him hit free agency last season, I believe he won't be signed.

For Jennings, I believe we'll extend him, but much of that hinges on what kind of contract he wants. With the way we're able to spread the ball around and the emergence of Jordy Nelson, I don't believe Jennings is a cornerstone of our offense, and I don't feel like keeping him is crucial to the long term success of our team. That's also why I think he'll get the non-exclusive franchise tag, where the Packers would be able to match any offer, or a team would have to give up a 1st and a 3rd in order to sign him. It gives us a chance to discover his value on the market before making a decision.

Newhouse gave up way to many sacks last years. 12 as I recall. I want to see better progress on the field or Rodgers could be on IR. Too me the jury is out on him.

We'll just have to disagree on Jennings. Nelson for all his attributes doesn't present the deep threat of a Jennings. Jordy is more of a short to intermediate guy.

My point with Jones is that once you start saying goodbye to a Jones and/or a Jennings then the depth you enjoyed starts to disappear.