New Orleans Saints begyndte deres frivillige offseason træning i mandags, dog uden holdet leder og QB Drew Brees.

Den franchise-tagged quarterback, og lederen af New Orleans Saints, især i denne tid uden Sean Payton, er fanget i et contract madness.  En Saint, der virkeligt skylder en del af hans succes til Drew Brees’  kasteevne og lederskab, Jimmy Graham.

“It’s time the team signed Brees to a long-term deal, I think it’s very important” Udtaler tight end Jimmy Graham til WWL-AM i New Orleans via SportsRadioInterviews.com.

“I can remember last year, during the lockout, other teams, they didn’t get together. Drew orchestrated and paid for a lot of the younger guys and even got me a place to stay and said, ‘Jimmy, I want you here.’ He paid that out of his own pocket for all of us to be here training together, and we saw what that translated into and what that meant as far as us jelling.” Fortæller Jimmy om Drew Brees’ leder skab, og betydning for hele holdet.

Graham blev hurtigt en af Brees’ ynglings mål næste sæson, han greb 99 bolde for 1.310 yards og 11 touchdowns, og uden tvivl i toppen af NFL tight ends.

“I’m not sure what’s going on or all the details, but I just want him back as soon as possible” Sagde Graham.

Ifølge The Times-Picanyunes kilder, er Brees meget irriteret over ikke være der i starten af de frivillige træninger fordi “He wants to be there for his teammates”

Ifølge NFL.com’s Steve Wyche, som i fredags udtalte at der ikke var noget nyt omkring Brees og hans nye kontrakt.

Brees brugte hans mandag i New York, for at være til et møde imellem NFL og NFL Player Association, angående bounty sag.