JUST WHEN DREW BREES was beginning to take, and revel, in the enormity of his new contract, a pesky ice skating, hockey player comes along to steal his thunder.
Brees signed a five year contract extension with the New Orleans Saints earlier this week. The $100m figure means the quarter-back is the NFL’s first $20m a year man.
Shea Weber, soon-to-be formerly of the Nashville Predators, is reported to have signed a 14-year offer sheet in excess of $100m but the deal, with the Philadelphia Flyers, has been front-loaded.
The news of the huge contract for Weber, considered to be one of the NHL’s top defenders, was broken by TSN’s Darren Dreger.
The analyst was told by a source that the 26-year-old Canadian may be offered up to $26m for his first season in Philadelphia.
The Nashville Predators have seven days to match the Flyers’ offer if they wish to retain Weber’s services.
Pay bump
Weber was on $7.5m with the Predators in his final season before his contract expired and was one of the team’s star performers as they reached the play-offs. He finished 2011-12 with 19 goals and 49 points.
It is expected the Predators would receive either four first round draft picks or two first round picks, one second and one third from the Flyers.
However the Predators may stump up the money to retain the services of their captain, having already lost Weber’s defensive mainstay Ryan Suter to the Minnesota Wild earlier in the summer.
Walking about money
The secured signature of Brees means football fans in New Orleans can breathe easy again.
The All-Star quarterback, who won the Superbowl with the Saints in 2009, signed up with the franchise on Monday in a deal that was the highest average annual pay package in NFL history.
Drew Brees is American Football’s first $20m a season man. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The 33-year-old then stopped by Jimmy John’s, a sandwich shop he owns, to grab some lunch.
He posed for photos, shook hands and signed autographs for fans before heading off to the airport and a flight to California.
The Saints’ training camp begins on Tuesday, 24 July.
