News & Info/Headlines

The Saints on Tuesday struck a two-year deal with Drew Brees worth $50 million -- including a reported $27 million in guarantees, which essentially makes it a one-year deal with an option to continue the relationship in 2019 if all continues to go well.

As NFL.com notes, the deal caps a news-cycle's worth of speculation over negotiations between Brees and the Saints. Amid reports the Vikings called to inquire about the possibility of landing Brees, New Orleans made "significant progress" on a deal during the quarterback's visit to the team facility on Monday.

"There was no doubt in our minds, I think both myself and the Saints, that we were gonna get a deal done," Brees told ESPN.com's Mike Triplett. "It was just a matter of what was the most fair deal for me and for the team to put us in the best position to succeed in the near future."

The annual average for Brees falls short of Jimmy Garoppolo's $27.5 million per year from the 49ers, but the 39-year-old exits with a respectable pact. Brees is worth every penny, showing no signs of decline last season while completing 72.0 percent of his passes and posting a 103.9 quarterback rating.

And as Triplett notes, the total value may be less than Brees could have made with another team or if he’d fully pressed his leverage, but Brees said that wasn’t his top priority.

“I think that provides certainly the team with the most flexibility when it comes to being able to anticipate the future and the ability to acquire free agents and re-sign players on our existing roster that will build a championship team,” Brees told Triplett.

As Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio pointed out, one player that Brees would like to see in a Saints uniform is tight end Jimmy Graham, who has been linked to a return to his first NFL team. Brees said he thinks Graham would “be an even better fit now than he was when he first started with us,” but it remains to be seen if he’ll be catching passes from Brees in 2018.

But there are plenty of skill players already on board who will benefit from Brees' return, including Michael Thomas and running backs Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, all of whom have to be energized following a season in which they re-emerged as Super Bowl contenders following a three-year playoff drought.

Thanks to a revamped defense and improved running game, Brees was able to throw for his fewest yards (4,334), touchdowns (23) and interceptions (eight) in his 12 seasons with the Saints while setting the NFL record for completion percentage (72.0). There's no reason to believe he's not capable of duplicating that success this season.

For the record, Brees has thrown for 58,097 yards and 408 touchdowns with the Saints -- the most by any quarterback in any 12-season span in NFL history. He is on pace to pass both Peyton Manning and Brett Favre in 2018 to become the NFL's all-time passing yardage leader.

Brees needs 1,496 yards to break Manning's record of 71,940. He needs 52 more touchdown passes to break Manning's NFL record of 539.