The Saints have placed the exclusive rights franchise tag on quarterback Drew Brees, the team's vice president of communications Greg Bensel announced via Twitter:

The Saints have designated Drew Brees as exclusive rights franchise player, per GM Mickey Loomis.

Definitely not the news that anybody wanted to hear today amid all the bounty program scrutiny.

Bad news for Drew in particular. He is not going to be happy about this. The best case scenario now is that the sides are able to work out a long term deal for Brees within the next year.

This also means the tag is not available for use on other free agents, specifically Carl Nicks and Marques Colston.