Brees with a bunch of guys the Saints also didn't want to pay.

As a person who can tell you with little hesitation how to properly operate a Coinstar machine, I have very little sympathy for athletes when they don’t get the deals they want. But in the case of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, I’m siding with their franchise QB and telling Tom Benson with a very stern finger-pointing: “Get a damn deal done already.”

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Saints have had one hell of a terrible offseason with the whole thing-I-refuse-to-call-Bountygate scandal. Now they’re being investigated for violating the no-contact policy at OTAs, and that can all take a backseat for a few minutes if Saints fans just get the news that their beloved Brees is coming back for a few more seasons.

So what’s the f*cking hold up, fellas?

According to sources, before this week, the Saints’ last offer had been close to $19 million per year over five years, and Brees was asking for about $20.5 million per year.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported this week that Brees was asking for $20.3 million per year. It’s not clear if that was a new offer or just a different figure on the old offer.

The prediction today is the same as it has been for months. The sides ultimately will agree on a deal that will make Brees the highest-paid player in NFL history, surpassing the $19.2 million per year the Denver Broncos gave quarterback Peyton Manning earlier this offseason. (Via NOLA.com)

Okay, I’m gonna play Devil’s avocado here for a second – 5 years? The highest paid player in NFL history? Look, I love Brees. Always have. It still kills me that the Miami Dolphins chose Daunte Culpepper over him. But I will happily point out that he’s been the benefactor of a stable of awesome receivers these past few years. Yes, he means so much to the city, but the HIGHEST PAID PLAYER IN HISTORY??? He’s 33-years old!

But if the Saints don’t pay up, I have a feeling Brees will be just fine with his new sandwich shop. There’s always money in a sandwich shop.

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In news that proves why I should wait another week before writing 10,000 words about fantasy football and attractive women, the Tennessee Titans shocked Chris Johnson – Nay, the world! – when they announced that they were prepared to make him the highest paid running back in NFL history. Titans GM Mike Reinfeldt said that as soon as Johnson ends his holdout and returns to camp, he will honor the elite RB with the contract he deserves.

“We’re willing to make him the highest-paid running back in the history of the NFL,’’ Reinfeldt said. “That’s kind of where we are. … We’d like to have him here, and we’d like to be fair with him.” (Via The Tennessean with one hell of a Burnsy-esque photoshop)

When asked how he plans to pay that kind of money, Reinfeldt responded: “Have you seen the rest of this roster? We could sign two of him.” As for Johnson, he claims this is all completely news to him.

“I am surprised,” Johnson said of Reinfeldt’s “statement about offering to make me the highest-paid running back. Neither me nor Joel have received any offer from the Titans. Maybe they talked, but I guarantee we never received any offer.”

Johnson has every right to be skeptical of Reinfeldt’s statement, but it wouldn’t hurt for the mouse to take the cheese and just show up to camp. As long as Reinfeldt isn’t standing there with a giant check for “$1,000,000,000,000,000″ and whispering, “Do us a solid and don’t cash this until 2017,” it could be in Johnson’s best interest to go. But some people disagree.

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