At the beginning of this current NFL offseason, rival fans of the New Orleans Saints joked wistfully that the best/worst thing that could happen to the Saints would be for pending free agent Drew Brees to inexplicably join another team. Now it seems the best case scenario for the Falcons and their neighbors if that Brees stays in New Orleans, just in the most contractually obstinent manner possible.
Keep in mind, the following isn't a partisan opinion driving a New Orleans doomsday scenario. We're simply reporting the facts... that someone else reported first. But we're reporting it with glee! (partisan glee!)
Here's the headline (AWESOME): If Drew Brees gets franchise tag, Saints doomed
And here's the lead (AWESOMER) by Yahoo's Jason Cole:
"It took a natural disaster for the New Orleans Saints to be desperate enough to sign Drew Brees in 2006. Six glorious years later, the team is privately trying to sell itself on the notion that Brees is simply a "very good" quarterback."
And here's the reason for all this doom and gloom (AWESOMEST):
...if a deal with Brees isn’t done by Monday, the team will have to use the franchise tag on him. The ripple effect of that is significant because the Saints also have wide receiver Marques Colston and guard Carl Nicks coming up as free agents. If the Saints are forced to franchise Brees, there is a strong chance they will lose both Colston and Nicks, each of whom are looking for about $9 million per year.
If that happens, the Saints are in trouble.
It would seem that sky is set to fall around Who Dat Nation come Monday, the deadline for Brees to (possibly) be franchise tagged. If he is (hope hope hope), the reverberation of Colston gone and Nicks possibly to Atlanta would create the most significant dent in New Orleans' offense since the rise of the Payton/Brees machine.
It's OK to make Mr. Burns fingers for the rest of the day. We will be.
For more on the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints never ending war, check out The Falcoholic, Canal Street Chronicles and SB Nation's NFL page.