Drew Brees Contract Signing Imminent?

If you were paying any attention at all yesterday, you'd have noticed Drew Brees making the rounds in a national media tour, which included stops at Mike & Mike, Outside the Lines, Dan Patrick and others.

If you were looking for signs that a deal is imminent, however, I'm sure you were left disappointed. Well, Drew did say he would never sit out a football season. That's something to be optimistic about, right?

I would never sit out a football season," Brees told the host. "I love the game too much. I love my team too much.

Yay!

But obviously, there's a lot that can happen between now and then. So, let's just hope we can get a long-term deal done.

Awwww. Guess we're just going to have to wait for that Greg Bensel tweet to find out when Drew officially signs. Whenever that may be.

The good news is that today is actually Drew's hearing with league arbitrator Stephen Burbank, to determine exactly how many times the NFL considers Brees to have been franchise tagged. I will let Mike Florio explain the nitty-gritty details for those not familiar with the situation:

The Saints and the NFL believe that, because the Saints would be using the franchise tag a second time in 2013, Brees would get only a 20-percent raise, which would give him $19.645 million in base pay. Brees and the NFLPA believe that, because Brees once before played under the franchise tag in San Diego, use of the tag a second time by the Saints would amount to a third time on Brees, entitling him to a 44-percent raise - or $23.574 million.

Why is this good news? Because both sides have undoubtedly been waiting to get a ruling on this matter before moving forward with long-term contract negotiations. Once they know officially how much Brees would be due to earn under two years of the franchise tag, the difference being $3.929 million, both parties can begin serious negotiating in earnest. So if they get their ruling today, it could be just a short while before we get the good news. Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, the countdown to Breesageddon continues to tick...tick...tick...