Enough of the disingenuous rhetoric, please, about how
Drew Brees signed with New Orleans because he felt at home with the Saints and was comfortable with the program that they are trying to rebuild. The fact is, Brees was left on Tuesday morning with nowhere else to go after he essentially failed the very rigorous physical examination the
Miami Dolphins administered to him the previous day. Physical exams in the NFL are very subjective things, and the Miami medical staff felt that Brees' surgically repaired shoulder, although improving, wasn't quite far enough along for the financial exposure the Dolphins would have had if they had agreed to sign the former San Diego starter.
So, on Monday evening, with the medical evaluations in hand, the Dolphins, after determining that Brees and agent Tom Condon wouldn't reduce the contractual liability, turned their attentions back to acquiring quarterback
Daunte Culpepper in a trade. Then, very early Tuesday morning -- reliable sources told ESPN.com -- Dolphins coach Nick Saban apprised Condon that Miami was out of the bidding for Brees. In fairness to Brees, Saban told Condon, the Dolphins would stay quiet about the results of the physical exam and the pending trade for Culpepper for a few hours. That would provide Condon and Brees, who had no negotiating leverage remaining with the Dolphins suddenly out of the picture, some time to complete the six-year, $60 million deal with Saints officials. In the end, the Dolphins simply thought Culpepper had a better chance of being on the field for training camp than Brees did.
"We're talking the quarterback position, right?" one Miami source said. "So what would you rather have, a guy coming off knee surgery or off shoulder surgery? You don't throw with your knee."
