The Saints and Drew Brees are far apart in their negotiations for a long-term deal which could lead to something players despise: the franchise tag.

But before we get into that, let's go down the list of things to like about Drew Brees. He's coming off a record-setting year. He's one of the top three quarterbacks in football. Pretty good, so far. He's an excellent teammate, great leader and solid guy. More? Not a blemish off the field. More? He was a key party of New Orleans' recovery from Hurricane Katrina. On and on it goes.

Which is why it's a total mystery the Saints have yet to work out a deal with Brees. A league source says the two sides remain far apart and confirmed an ESPN report that New Orleans might use the franchise tag on Brees on Monday. Now, the ESPN report is slightly deceptive because if a team does use its franchise tag, they have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal and remove the tag.

My point is: What the hell are the Saints doing? I've said this before. There are certain players, only a handful, where you open the vault and roll out the cash. You give them a blank check. Brees is one of those players. Franchising Brees is going to anger him, no question. Players despise the tag because it limits their earning potential. So you've ticked off your best player. For what? Why?

The Saints want Brees and Brees wants to be a Saint, so in the end, Brees will get his long-term deal. It's just that the team is making Brees sweat it out. And that's just plain foolish.

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OPENING HIT: Drew Brees' contract expires soon. It'll get done, of course. Right. Right? Hello? Is this thing on?

That's what the Saints continually say. Brees will be back, a new deal will come. I do believe that. Mostly. Kind of. But in speaking with sources on both sides of this there is a certain amount of digging in. The talks between the two sides (for now at least) have gone nowhere. That can change in an instant but for the moment the gap is wide.

I was once told months ago this would get done fairly easily but now there won't be anything easy about it. This has the potential to get long and nasty and could extend into off-season workouts and well into training camp.

I don't understand the Saints' handling of this at all. For everything Brees has done for that organization -- a Super Bowl, a class act, a great representative off the field post-Katrina -- you roll out the ATM machine for Brees. You pay the man. You freaking pay the man.

Trust me on this: Brees feels the same way. He'll never say it publicly but he does and I can't blame him. His contract status should have never, ever reached this point. It's a blemish on Saints ownership and management that it has.

According to NFL blogger Brian McIntyre, the Saints have $125M in cash committed (guaranteed and non-guaranteed) to players over 2012 and 2013. That's the second lowest in league to Cincinnati's $90M. That's pretty bad.

Time will pass, this will get done, but it may not be pretty along the way.

This could get nasty before it gets better.