Payton and Brees, стр. 7
The Saints scheduled the first visit with Brees and rolled out the red carpet. On Saturday, March 11, Payton and Loomis flew on Saints owner Tom Benson’s private jet to Birmingham, Alabama, where Brees was rehabbing his shoulder at Andrews’ clinic. They returned to New Orleans with Brees and Brittany for a two-day courtship that included a lavish dinner at Emeril’s and tours of the city—potential neighborhoods and top golf courses. During the visit, the Saints also made it clear to Brees they would be the highest bidder for his services.
Brees returned to Birmingham on Sunday afternoon and flew to Miami that night for his official visit with the Dolphins. Miami had gone 9–7 in Saban’s first season and team officials there believed they were a quarterback away from contending for a Super Bowl. Brees was their top target. The Dolphins had graded Brees highly as a prospect in the 2001 NFL Draft, and several of the team’s scouts and personnel executives remained high on him behind closed doors. Miami signaled its interest by having Saban call Brees at the stroke of midnight to start free agency. Saban and Dolphins general manager Randy Mueller even flew to Birmingham to meet briefly with Brees on Saturday morning before he left for New Orleans.
The Dolphins wined and dined Brees, too. They flew him and Brittany to Miami on a private jet and put them up at the Harbor Beach Resort and Spa and threw a big waterfront dinner for them at Grille 66 & Bar in Fort Lauderdale. While Brees was getting his physical and visiting with Dolphins coaches, Saban’s wife, Terry, was taking Brittany on a boat cruise up the intracoastal waterway.
The Dolphins medical staff, though, was less enthusiastic. After evaluating Brees’ shoulder, Miami doctors said it was a long shot Brees would fully recover from the surgery. And even then, it would probably take a year for him to return to 100 percent.
“It was more than a gut punch,” former Dolphins general manager Randy Mueller said. “It was a kick below the gut if you know what I mean.”
As a backup plan, Miami entered into trade negotiations with the Minnesota Vikings for quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who faced a similar career crossroads as Brees after suffering a severe knee injury the previous season. Andrews also performed Culpepper’s surgery, and Culpepper was told he would make a complete recovery and be ready to play football for the 2006 season. Believing they were close to making a Super Bowl run, the Dolphins pitched their tent with Culpepper.
Faced with a major rebuilding job, Payton and Loomis were in position to roll the dice. As a first-year coach, Payton owned a long leash with fans after the grim 2005 season. The Saints weren’t pressured to make a playoff run like Miami. They could afford to take a chance on Brees.
“In our mind, even if it doesn’t work out in Year One, then we’re just waiting for two years,” Loomis said. “If it didn’t work out this year, hey, look, this guy’s got another opportunity in Year Two.”
The Saints offered Brees a six-year, $60 million contract, the largest in franchise history. While the offer was a tangible commitment by the team, it also included an escape clause after Year One in case things didn’t pan out. Brees would earn $10 million in the first year and was due a $12 million roster bonus on March 2, 2007. If Brees struggled or was reinjured, the Saints could cut him and the only cost would be a relatively minor $6.67 million hit against their salary cap in 2007.
When Brees accepted the offer a day later, Saints fans were excited but far from over the moon. They had experienced their share of bad free-agent signings over the years. Saints fans were used to broken-down quarterbacks parachuting into New Orleans on the back ends of their careers. They were hopeful Brees would be the exception, but many of them remained skeptical.
At his introductory press conference in New Orleans a few days later, Brees tried to assuage fears and quell the skepticism about his injured shoulder.
“I don’t mind talking about it,” Brees said to a packed room of reporters. “I’ve got a big smile on the inside because I know where I’m going to be in about four months. So all this speculation, especially during this process where people just like to kind of drag you down…they’ll be eating their words. It’s not the first time somebody said I couldn’t do it.”
Payton loved every word of Brees’ speech. The Saints had their pilot. It was the first win of Payton’s tenure. No one could have known it then, but it was a positive early sign of the young head coach’s talent, a testament to his intelligence, instincts, and competitiveness. The little-known Payton had gone head-to-head with the great Nick Saban and won.
2. Aligning in New Orleans
New Orleans was a new experience for Sean Payton and Drew Brees both. Neither had any connection to the city before joining forces there in 2006.
Even though he was born and raised in Austin, Texas, just a short plane ride away, Brees had been to New Orleans just once, for the wedding of his college roommate, Jason Loerzel, in 2003.
That same year Payton coached in the Superdome as an assistant with the Cowboys. The 13–7 loss was a day he would just as soon forget. The only other visit Payton had made to New Orleans was for a coaching convention during his days as a young college assistant. One of the few things he remembered from that trip was going home “with a lot of ATM receipts in my pocket and not a lot of sleep.”
New Orleans is the United States’ most unique city. Geographically, it is located in the Deep South. But the city’s ethos is firmly rooted in Europe and the Caribbean because