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The title of a project on the division blogs this week is “Dream/Nightmare scenarios’’ for each NFL team. When I first received the instructions, I called my boss.

I asked about the possibility of taking it one step further. I asked if I could write about the nightmare of all nightmares.

Let’s be clear: It’s not something that I think will happen. But nightmares, after all, are supposed to be the worst thing you can concoct. And there’s one remotely possible scenario in the NFC South that would go way beyond the run-of-the-mill nightmare scenario I cooked up in the team post on the Saints.

What if quarterback Drew Brees doesn’t get a long-term deal and somehow ends up sitting out the entire 2012 season?

If you’re a New Orleans Saints fan, this is where your stage of sleep goes from just dozing off to the start of the worst nightmare ever. This is where all the good feeling Brees has brought to New Orleans since 2006, and especially since the start of the 2009 season, disappears. This is where the Saints go from being the elite team they’ve been the past few years back to the mediocrity that was their trademark through almost their entire previous existence. This is where Chase Daniel takes the first snap of the season at home against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 9 and starts through the regular-season finale Dec. 30 at home against Carolina.

This is the land of 8-8, or maybe even 6-10.

Unlikely? Highly. I still believe Brees will sign a long-term contract, straighten out what’s been a mess of an offseason for the Saints and carry the team to another postseason berth, no matter how many coaches and other players are suspended.

But with each day that passes without Brees having that long-term deal, Saints fans must start worrying a little bit more. Brees carries the franchise tag, and the deadline for him to finalize a long-term contract is July 16. If he doesn’t have a deal by then, he has only one option -- sign the franchise tag and play for a little more than $16 million this season.

Wait, there is actually a second option. Brees could just decide to sit out the season.

Public perception is that Brees never would do that because he’s such a competitor. I’m not here to rain on Brees’ public perception. My experience around him leads me to believe he is what he’s perceived to be -- and that’s not true of all the people I cover. Brees really is a fierce competitor.

But that’s part of the problem. It’s hard to say exactly what he would do if the deadline passed with no deal. At this point, Brees himself might not even know what he would do. But my impression of him leads me to believe there’s at least the possibility he could feel like he has been wronged by the Saints and could swing back as strongly as possible.

Brees has made it clear he despises the idea of playing without any long-term security, so maybe he just doesn’t play. That would be beyond disastrous for the franchise.

This team might have lost its mastermind when head coach Sean Payton was suspended, but I think the Saints could go on nicely with Brees around. If he’s not, this team loses its heart, soul and at least as many games (eight) as it did the past two seasons combined.

Take Brees away from the Saints and you have the Jacksonville Jaguars. Wait, at least the Jaguars have Blaine Gabbert. Yeah, he was terrible as a rookie, but there were at least some reasons why he was a first-round draft pick.

Daniel, who was undrafted in 2009, has completed only six passes in his NFL career. Some people like to say Daniel is the second coming of Brees. He's not. The only things Brees and Daniel have in common are that they’re short by NFL quarterback standards and know the Saints’ playbook. Brees is a once-in-a-lifetime talent. Daniel might look fine in preseason games when he’s plugged into Payton’s system. But start him over an entire regular season, especially one in which Payton isn’t around, and you’ll get a quick reminder of why teams generally avoid quarterbacks who are 6 feet or shorter.

Daniel doesn’t have Brees’ arm, experience in the offense or his magic. Yeah, I know there’s a school of thought that says you could throw any quarterback out there with the likes of Jimmy Graham, Darren Sproles, Marques Colston, Devery Henderson and Lance Moore and he’d do just fine.

I don’t buy it. Daniel could get the Saints through a game or two (maybe a little more if Payton were around) if Brees were banged up. Brees could get the Saints through a season without Payton.

But Payton’s not going to be around. If, somehow, Brees joins him, the Saints suddenly would become a team with a defense that might or might not be average, some good skill-position players on offense and no threat at quarterback.

That sounds like a formula for instant mediocrity -- and a huge nightmare for a franchise and a fan base that has gotten very used to winning big.

Time for a look at some headlines from around the NFC South.

• After San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith downplayed Cam Newton’s stats, Carolina linebacker Jon Beason defended his quarterback. Beason took to Twitter with a message for Smith. Beason said Smith would have been looking for a job if Peyton Manning had signed with San Francisco.

• Kellen Winslow, who was traded away by Tampa Bay on Monday night, said he can breathe in Seattle. He said things were getting a little stuffy in Tampa, where he and new coach Greg Schiano had some philosophical differences.

• New Orleans coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is installing a defense that won’t feature as many all-out blitzes as the Saints used in recent years. But safety Malcolm Jenkins said that doesn’t mean the Saints will be any less aggressive on defense.

• New Orleans offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael said backup quarterback Chase Daniel has been stepping up and taking a leadership role with Drew Brees not participating in organized team activities.

• The Sporting News ranks the 32 NFL head coaches and there is not an NFC South coach in the top 14. Suspended New Orleans coach Sean Payton isn’t included in the rankings, but his replacement, Joe Vitt, is. New Orleans fans, who have been a bit sensitive lately, aren’t going to be happy when they see where Vitt was ranked.

Drew Brees and Darren Sharper aren’t teammates anymore, but the former New Orleans safety went to bat for the Saints quarterback in this interview with WWL Radio’s Bobby Hebert.

“It still baffles me every day I wake up and I don’t see, on the bottom line, a new contract for Drew Brees,'' Sharper said. "I’m just confused as to why the guy that has led this organization has not been given a contract extension so he can be on board for years to come. ... You just have never seen this happen to a franchise quarterback and Drew is a franchise quarterback in every sense of the word. Have you ever heard of Tom Brady going through a contract, stalled talks that have taken this long. Peyton Manning? Aaron Rodgers? Philip Rivers? ... None of these guys have ever had to deal with a franchise tag and had to play out the last year of their contract and then go into the offseason.”

Sharper has a point. Brees has done a lot for the Saints and for the New Orleans area. You may see a guy like Manning or Brett Favre getting pushed out near the end of their careers. But Manning ended up with a great deal in Denver after parting ways with the Colts. Favre went on to have productive time with the Jets and Vikings after he and the Packers parted ways. But Brees isn’t at the end of his career. He has at least five more good years left in him and it's not like the Saints are eager to hand his job to Chase Daniel.

At the moment, Brees is in any conversation about the league’s best quarterback. He’s right there with Rodgers and Brady (and Manning, if you want to include him for lifetime achievements) and Brees is a notch or two above Rivers.

Sharper may be right when he says we’ve never seen a quarterback of Brees’ magnitude let his contract run out and have to go through lengthy negotiations in an effort to get a new deal.

A look at the top Monday morning headlines from around the NFC South.

Although the Saints have been preaching an “us-against-the-world’’ mentality, Jeff Duncan writes that they risk turning it into “us against us’’ the longer the Drew Brees contract situation drags on. This thing has been lingering for a long time and Brees has started showing some displeasure. The Saints have the upper hand that comes with the franchise tag. But Brees isn’t going to be happy if he has to play for the franchise tag. There are a lot of unhappy people in New Orleans these days. The Saints don’t need the leader of their team going through an entire season in a bad mood.

With Brees staying away from the team’s offseason program, backup Chase Daniel is expected to work with the first team when the Saints hit the field Tuesday. Daniel said he’s ready to try to take advantage of the work with the first team.

Despite the wishes of their fans, the Carolina Panthers haven’t added a veteran receiver to go with Steve Smith. That may be because the Panthers want Brandon LaFell in the No. 2 job. Coach Ron Rivera said he’s encouraged by what he saw out of LaFell last season. But Rivera also made it a point to say LaFell hasn’t arrived. I think that’s a pretty clear message to LaFell that he has to continue to grow.

A league expert said the goal of Jonathan Vilma’s lawsuit against Roger Goodell isn’t so much to technically win as it is to compel the NFL to produce evidence of a bounty program.

New Atlanta linebacker Lofa Tatupu says he has to earn the respect of his new teammates as he attempts to win the starting job in the middle. Tatupu has a big challenge in front of him. He hasn’t played since the 2010 season in Seattle and, in a perfect world, the Falcons would like second-year pro Akeem Dent to win the job. But Tatupu had some very productive years with the Seahawks. If he can get back to that form, he could end up in the starting job.

Mike Williams said that free-agent pickup Vincent Jackson quickly has become the leader of Tampa Bay’s receiving corps. That’s a good thing because Jackson is a proven player and has been productive for a long time. The rest of Tampa Bay’s receiving corps has some potential. But Williams and the other receivers are very young and desperately need a leader to follow.

It seems like the flow of news on the Saints’ bounty program finally has slowed and we’re entering a slow time of year, so let’s have some fun.

I’ve asked our friends at SportsNation to assemble the accompanying poll to let you vote for whichever NFC South backup quarterback you think is the best.

Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton and Josh Freeman have been pretty healthy. Despite the drama, you have to assume Brees’ contract situation will be resolved before the start of training camp. So I don’t see any NFC South team having to turn to its backup anytime soon, but what if something unexpected happens? Which team would be in the best shape if it had to play its backup quarterback?

I’m not sure there’s a clear-cut choice here. Tampa Bay added Dan Orlovsky as a free agent and he comes with a little momentum after leading the Indianapolis Colts to two victories late last season and he's definitely an upgrade over previous backup Josh Johnson, but Orlovsky didn’t throw a single pass in 2009 or 2010. The rest of the division’s backups are the same as they were last year.

New Orleans backup Chase Daniel has attempted eight passes in three seasons with the Saints. I’ve seen him in practice and preseason games and think he could probably do a decent job of moving a very talented New Orleans offense. But there’s really no regular-season evidence to support that.

Carolina’s Derek Anderson didn’t attempt a pass last season. But he has a fair amount of experience. He has 43 career starts and did throw for almost 3,800 yards with Cleveland in 2007. Anderson’s offensive coordinator that year was Rob Chudzinski, who now runs Carolina’s offense. Anderson has plenty of familiarity with the system, so I don’t think the Panthers would be in dire straits if they had to play him.

Atlanta’s Chris Redman hasn’t had to play much at all since Ryan arrived in 2008. Even before that, Redman pretty much was a career backup. But I’m going to cast my vote for Redman.

I’m taking the cautious approach. I’m picking him mostly because he’s 34 and first came into the league in 2000, although he sat out the 2004, ’05 and ’06 seasons. Redman has sat through hundreds of quarterback meetings and taken thousands of practice snaps.

Throw him into a game with Atlanta’s skill-position talent around him and I think Redman is the NFC South backup quarterback with the best chance of succeeding. But you’re free to disagree. Go ahead and cast your vote.

We’re finally reaching the point where there’s some football news out of the New Orleans Saints.

The team had its rookie minicamp over the weekend and assistant head coach Joe Vitt, who is stepping in for suspended coach Sean Payton, and the coordinators met with the New Orleans media Monday afternoon. There was no major news, but I’m looking at the transcripts and seeing several items that are worth discussing.

The veteran Saints have yet to hit the field in their offseason workouts, but that will come next week. With the contract situation of quarterback Drew Brees still very much up in the air, the Saints have to prepare to take the field without their leader. The Brees situation could change with a phone call, but the Saints are preparing to begin their on-field workouts with Chase Daniel and Sean Canfield as their quarterbacks.

“We’re going to throw the volume of offense at them that we would in a normal week,’’ offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. said. “It won’t be any different in that aspect.”

The Saints aren’t ruling out the possibility of adding another quarterback before they hit the field. They had Brian Brohm in for a tryout during the camp and could possibly sign him or someone else in the coming days. But, for the moment, they’re looking at proceeding with the quarterbacks they have under contract.

“This is going to be an opportunity for Chase and Sean to get more reps and get a good look at those guys,’’ Carmichael said.

There have been reports the Saints and Brees have made no progress toward a long-term contract. Vitt said the negotiations are between general manager Mickey Loomis and Brees’ agent, but still remained optimistic that the quarterback will have a contract before training camp.

“I’ve never been a math major and I’m not an accounting major so there’s nothing I could advise Mickey to do that what he already knows how to do,’’ Vitt said. “Those guys are both on the same page and have the same aspirations and same goals. This is going to get done. I don’t (believe) anybody ever thought it was going to be easy. I think they’re both working to the same goal.”

Vitt and the coordinators also addressed several other topics of significance.

The Saints have re-signed veteran kicker John Kasay, who stepped in last year when Garrett Hartley was injured. Special teams coordinator Greg McMahon said neither kicker is guaranteed a roster spot.

“We’re going to make it competitive, absolutely,’’ McMahon said. “All phases of our team are. We re-signed John for a reason. Garrett knows that and it will certainly be good competition. It’s healthy. It’s good for us.”

Uncertainty remains about the status of linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith. The NFL has suspended Vilma for the entire 2012 season and Smith is scheduled to be suspended for the first four games of the season for their roles in the bounty program. But those suspensions are on hold because both players have appealed.

“Both of those players were in the building today and we’re moving forward,’’ Vitt said. “We had a great film session with these guys. I think I have to go back to what we said a couple weeks ago. We’re trying to win today. Today, we got a little bit better than yesterday. This weekend we got a little bit better than the previous weekend. We’re going to adjust those challenges when we have to face them.”

Vitt also said the Saints will open training camp at their facility in Metairie, but suggested they will spend some time practicing against one of their preseason opponents. The Saints open the preseason by playing in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio against the Arizona Cardinals. They follow that with a road game in New England, home games with Jacksonville and Houston and close out the preseason with a game at Tennessee.

“We’ll open up (camp) a little early because we have the Hall of Fame game and then we’ll probably go and practice against one of our upcoming opponents in training camp,’’ Vitt said. “I think Mickey’s ready to talk about it in a week when it gets settled, but we’ll go away, kind of like we did in California (last preseason) for a week. We did it two years before that in Houston. We’ll go away and practice with an opponent that we have in our preseason schedule.”

Vitt also addressed the status of running back Mark Ingram, who recently had arthroscopic knee surgery.

“I think anytime you see a player limping around with a late-season offseason surgery like he had, you’re concerned,’’ Vitt said. “What I’m not concerned about is his dedication to getting better and his accountability to his teammates. He’s shows up to treatment on time every day. He’s not late. He’s taken a good business approach to this thing. The surgery is probably something that he didn’t have to get done, but as an organization we all agreed that he should get it done to make him a stronger player. Mark a dependable guy now. He’s not going to miss his treatment. He gets his work done. You’re concerned obviously with this, but not much with him.”

Vitt said the Saints may proceed cautiously with Ingram at the start of training camp, but have no doubt he’ll be ready for the beginning of the regular season.

We’ve weighed in from a lot of different angles on the NFL’s announcement that New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the 2012 season and defensive end Will Smith will be suspended for the first four games.

Now, let’s look at what some others are saying and writing about the NFL’s discipline.

• John DeShazier writes that the Saints may have gotten off easy. He’s got a point. Although the season-long suspension of Vilma might have been harsher than many anticipated, things could have been a lot worse. The NFL initially said 22 to 27 players were involved in the three-year bounty program. The fact Vilma and Smith are the only current Saints facing suspensions has to come as something of a relief for an organization that probably was bracing itself to lose more players.
• Brian Allee-Walsh has a similar take.
• Peter King writes that, at least in terms of discipline, the Saints' bounty program has made Spygate look small. I don’t know that this thing was dramatically worse than Spygate, but the NFL obviously treated it that way.
• You can head over to SportsNation and weigh in on if you think the Saints’ penalties were too harsh or not harsh enough.
• New Orleans backup quarterback Chase Daniel said he was standing next to Vilma when the news about the suspensions came on television.
• Here’s a good sampling of what current and former New Orleans players had to say about the suspensions. As you might imagine, they’re not very happy. Also, good to hear from Reggie Bush.
• Here’s the NFL Players Association statement on the suspensions. It’s the typical NFLPA response to just about everything -- they haven’t seen enough evidence.
• Here’s the release the NFL used to announce the suspensions, which includes details of the involvement of the players in the bounty program.

The New Orleans Saints, who are on the verge of having some key free agents leave, just made a minor signing to keep one of their own players.

The team announced it has agreed to terms with quarterback Chase Daniel on a one-year contract.

“Ever since Chase joined our team in 2009, he’s continued to work hard and progress on the practice field, in the meeting room and in the weight room,” general manager Mickey Loomis said. “His work ethic has served him well as he’s continued his development for us at the quarterback position.”

Daniel has served as the primary backup to Drew Brees, which means he hasn’t received much playing time. In the past two seasons, Daniel has completed six of eight passes for 45 yards and posted an 88.0 NFL passer rating. Daniel also has handled holding duties on field goals and extra points.

The Saints have several bigger names that can become free agents if they're not re-signed by Tuesday afternoon, including receiver Marques Colston, guard Carl Nicks, cornerback Tracy Porter and receiver Robert Meachem.

The New Orleans Saints have given a tender to just one of their three restricted free agents.

Linebacker Jonathan Casillas has been given the lowest tender, which is expected to be about $1.26 million. With that tender, the Saints will have the right of first refusal and can match any offer Casillas gets from another team. That tender also allows teams to get a draft pick from the same round the player was drafted in as compensation, but that doesn’t apply in this case because Casillas entered the league as an undrafted free agent.

Quarterback Chase Daniel and linebacker Ramon Humber also are free agents and the Saints have yet to issue tenders to them.

I heard a very interesting and lengthy interview with David Garrard while driving a bit earlier Tuesday on Sirius NFL Radio.

Garrard made it very clear he wants to play again next season after sitting out 2011. Garrard said he had back surgery to repair an injury that was holding him back when the Jaguars released him just before the start of last season. He said he’s almost 100 percent and his agent is making teams aware of his availability.

As you might expect, Garrard said his first preference would be to go to a team where he would at least have a chance to compete for a starting job. I don’t see that scenario as even a remote possibility in the NFC South. But Garrard also said he’d be open to being a backup/mentor.

In those roles, I could see him in the NFC South. Let’s throw out the Saints because they’ve got Drew Brees as their starter (assuming they finally get around to getting a new contract done) and they seem content with Chase Daniel as the backup. If the Saints do anything at quarterback this offseason, it might be using a late-round pick on a project-type quarterback to groom behind Brees.

But I can at least see scenarios where Garrard would make sense for the other three NFC South teams. Let’s start with Tampa Bay. The Bucs have Josh Freeman as their starter and view him as their franchise quarterback.

Backup Josh Johnson can become a free agent and I think he probably will test the market. Johnson’s athletic and the previous coaching staff sometimes used him in the wildcat formation (although not with a great deal of success). But Johnson’s not the kind of guy you want to see playing for an extended period if Freeman is injured. Garrard can be that guy because he’s got plenty of experience as a starter.

There’s also a school of thought that the Bucs might want to surround Freeman with an experienced backup that can help act as a mentor. Garrard or David Carr are guys I think could be possibilities if the Bucs go in that direction. New offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan worked as quarterbacks coach with Carr and the New York Giants the last two seasons. Sullivan also worked for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2002 and ’03. Those were Garrard’s first two seasons in the NFL and Sullivan was a defensive assistant the first year, before switching to offense in 2003. But at least he has some familiarity with Garrard.

Speaking of familiarity with Garrard, that could be more of a factor with the other two NFC South teams.

Carolina quarterbacks coach Mike Shula was quarterbacks coach in Jacksonville from 2007 through 2010. Garrard’s best statistical seasons came in that span and all indications are he and Shula got along well. The Panthers are set with Cam Newton as their starter, but backup Derek Anderson is a free agent and Jimmy Clausen’s future with the team remains unclear. Garrard might be an upgrade over Anderson as a mentor and as a player.

Garrard also has ties to the Atlanta coaching staff. New offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator from 2007 through the end of last season. I’m not real sure if Garrard and Koetter parted on friendly terms, but I think the decision to dump Garrard was made mainly by former Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio. If nothing else, Garrard should be pretty familiar with the concepts Koetter will try to add to Atlanta’s offense.

Atlanta veteran backup Chris Redman is scheduled to be a free agent and I don’t think the Falcons are ready to elevate John Parker Wilson to the No. 2 role. I think there will be some interest in bringing back Redman because his price tag won’t be high and he’s a good set of eyes and ears for Matt Ryan. But Redman’s not the kind of guy you want to play if Ryan goes down for an extended period of time.

If the Falcons are going to make a play for Garrard, a lot will depend on what Koetter thinks of the quarterback. Heck, even coach Mike Smith could have a weighty opinion on this one. Smith is familiar with Garrard because he was defensive coordinator in Jacksonville before taking over in Atlanta.

No NFC South team faces a more challenging period between now and the start of free agency than the New Orleans Saints.

They have to find a way to re-sign quarterback Drew Brees, and there are at least a couple other players that it’s essential the Saints retain. They’ve also got some important role players and will need to find ways to keep several of them despite a difficult salary-cap situation.

Let’s take a look at New Orleans’ potential free agents. They’re all unrestricted, unless noted otherwise:

Brees, defensive end Jeff Charleston, receiver Marques Colston, linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar, defensive tackle Aubrayo Franklin, tight end John Gilmore, tight end Tory Humphrey, kicker John Kasay, defensive end Turk McBride, offensive lineman Pat McQuistan, receiver Robert Meachem, guard Carl Nicks, cornerback Tracy Porter, receiver/return man Courtney Roby, defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, cornerback Leigh Torrence, safety Jonathon Amaya (exclusive rights), receiver Adrian Arrington (exclusive rights), center Brian de la Puente (exclusive rights), offensive lineman Justin Drescher (exclusive rights), linebacker Jonathan Casillas (restricted), quarterback Chase Daniel (restricted) and linebacker Ramon Humber (restricted).

Whatever deal Brees signs, it’s likely he’ll take up somewhere around $15 million of the 2012 salary cap. But the Saints will have to continue to spend big money. It’s imperative they keep Nicks. He might be the best guard in the league and he’s Brees’ top protector. Keeping Colston also would seem to be a top priority because he’s one of Brees’ favorite targets.

Once the accounting is done on Brees, Nicks and Colston, the Saints will have to make some tough financial decisions. Porter and Meachem are important role players. But they could have market value elsewhere. The Saints might not be able to afford to keep them. That would hurt, but it might not be disastrous because the Saints have good depth at receiver and cornerback.

Now that the season officially is over for all four NFC South teams, we can start looking ahead to the 2012 draft.

Take a look at this Insider post by Steve Muench, which talks about two undersized quarterbacks -- Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson. Both are listed at just a shade under 6-foot.

Any time you talk about undersized quarterbacks, you have to start with New Orleans’ Drew Brees, because he has proven that you don’t have to be 6-4 or 6-5 to succeed. Brees is listed right at 6-foot, and that might be a bit generous.

But Brees is a perfect fit in coach Sean Payton’s offensive scheme. The Saints obviously don’t believe you need a tall quarterback, because backup Chase Daniel also is listed at 6-foot.

Moore and Wilson might not be good fits in some offenses. But Muench suggests either one could be worth a late-round pick by the Saints. I think that’s a pretty good idea.

The Saints likely will sign Brees to a new contract before long. Brees is coming off a record-setting season and obviously has shown no signs of slowing down. But Brees did turn 33 on Sunday, and it might be time to start thinking about getting an heir apparent because Brees can't play forever.

Maybe the Saints view Daniel as that guy and maybe they don’t. Daniel can become a restricted free agent this year, and an unrestricted free agent next year. Daniel might not want to stick around and wait his turn. Even if he does, it’s not a bad idea to bring in someone to compete with him.

Moore and Wilson fit the Saints’ quarterback profile, and they should be available late in the draft.

Earlier Wednesday, I ran my weekly league-wide QB Watch column. This week, I focused on how the Bears and Texans still can make the playoffs even though they’ve lost their starting quarterbacks to injury.

My point on this was the Bears and Texans are good teams. They’re both 7-3. Even with Caleb Hanie and Matt Leinart now moving into starting roles, it’s not a given that the Bears and Texans suddenly will fall apart. If Hanie and Leinart simply can be adequate, the players around them are good enough to get those teams to the playoffs.

But let’s take the time to get NFC South specific now. Let’s take a look at the backup quarterback situation for each team and think about what would happen right now if Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Josh Freeman or Cam Newton went down with an injury.

Saints. There's no question Brees is the most important player on the Saints. He’s on pace for record numbers and he’s well on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Backup Chase Daniel has been in the NFL for three seasons and has attempted precisely three passes. But I don’t think the Saints would simply crumble if Daniel suddenly had to play. Just like the Bears and Texans, the Saints are 7-3. They might not have a defense as good as the Saints or the Bears. But I think you could plug Daniel into New Orleans’ system and the Saints still could win enough to get into the playoffs. Sean Payton’s offense is mapped out so well that Daniel wouldn’t have much of a problem getting the ball into the hands of someone who can make a big play at any time.

Falcons. Chris Redman is – by far – the division’s most seasoned backup. He’s 34 and first arrived in the league in 2000. Redman is not Ryan. But the Falcons are 6-4 and the rest of their schedule isn’t that difficult. If Redman had to play, he could hand the ball to Michael Turner and occasionally find Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez enough to keep the offense moving. I could see the Falcons getting to 10 wins if Redman had to step in.

Buccaneers. Let’s be clear that Tampa Bay isn’t in the same situation as the Texans, Bears, Saints and Falcons. At 4-6, the Bucs probably aren’t going to make the playoffs even if Freeman stays healthy. They’d suddenly have to instantly fix a lot of flaws that have held them back all season and run the table. During Tampa Bay’s current four-game losing streak, I’ve had readers suggest the Bucs should turn to backup Josh Johnson. Really? Trust me, that’s not the answer. Johnson’s very athletic. He throws the ball better than Tim Tebow and can run pretty well. But the Bucs have so many other issues that they probably wouldn’t win again this season if Johnson had to play the rest of the way. That’s saying a lot because Carolina’s on the schedule twice.

Panthers. Like the Bucs, the Panthers aren’t in a situation where a backup could step in, play reasonably well, get some significant help from his team and still make the playoffs. But let’s say the Panthers were 7-3 right now and Cam Newton couldn’t play. In that scenario, the Panthers wouldn’t necessarily be headed for disaster. They’ve got Derek Anderson, a relatively experienced backup, and he might be able to get them a few wins in a pinch. But, at this point in the season, I doubt the Panthers would turn to Anderson if Newton couldn’t play. In their current situation, it would make more sense to take one last look at Jimmy Clausen, just to see if there’s even a remote chance he can figure into the team’s future plans. I’m thinking the team already feels Clausen won’t be around long and it’s significant to note that he can collect a roster bonus of nearly $1 million if he’s still with Carolina in March. But, right now, it would make more sense to play Clausen than Anderson.

Jeff Duncan has a fine column in which he spells out the reasons why New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees deserves to be the NFL’s highest-paid player, which means probably somewhere around $23 million per year.

I agree completely and Duncan nailed it when he wrote “(Brees is) younger and healthier than Peyton Manning, more valuable than Tom Brady and just plain better than Michael Vick."

More valuable than Brady? Yep, absolutely. Brady’s tremendous but New England is about a system and a coach (Bill Belichick). If something happened to Brady, the Patriots still would be capable of going to the playoffs.

Take Brees out of New Orleans’ lineup for the rest of the season. There’s enough talent and the system is good enough that backup Chase Daniel could come in and get some wins. But, even after a 3-1 start, I doubt if Daniel had to start playing this week that the Saints would end up in the playoffs.

Brees’ value to New Orleans goes way beyond his on-field effort for the Saints. He’s the glue that holds that franchise together and he’s more involved in his community than any other player in the league. New Orleans really needed Brees when he came in 2006 and continues to need him.

Do you pay a guy for community involvement? Ordinarily, no. But Brees is different and New Orleans is different.

Brees is 32 and that is a bit of an issue. If you really want to play hardball, you could make the argument that Brees is approaching the downside of his career and you shouldn’t pay a guy for past performance, when he already has been paid quite well for that. But the flip side of that is that Brees takes great care of himself. I very easily could see him having five or six more great years. Maybe even a few more beyond that.

There are salary-cap implications and general manager Mickey Loomis has to work through all that. But that’s what Loomis does for a living and he’s very good at it. His main job here is to find a way to make it work so the Saints can retain Brees for the rest of his career.

I don’t even want to think about the implications of the alternative. Brees’ contract is up after the season and the Saints could buy some time and put the franchise tag on him. But why mess around with something that obviously needs to get done?

I say sign Brees very soon.

But let’s hear your thoughts. Hit the SportsNation poll to the right and cast your vote on whether or not the Saints should make Brees the NFL’s highest-paid player. And feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments section below.

John Kasay is 41, which is one of the major reasons the Carolina Panthers released the kicker last month. But as Kasay met with the New Orleans media after signing with the Saints on Tuesday, he said he feels like he still can be productive.

“I am not as young as I use to be,’’ Kasay said. “I am not fooling anybody with that but there have been a handful of guys who have done very well playing into their 40’s. Morten Anderson, John Carney, Gary Anderson, Matt Stover, Jason Hanson. It’s a privilege to be able to play and to do the same thing I was doing as a kid.”

Kasay said he had continued working out, even though he wasn’t sure he would get another chance to kick in the league. That changed quickly after New Orleans kicker Garrett Hartley suffered a hip injury in Sunday night’s preseason game.

“This came together obviously very quickly based on what happened to Garrett,’’ Kasay said. “That’s just the nature of the league. I am married. I have four children and school started last week. I was back-to-school-night last night. That’s how fast life changes.”

Coach Sean Payton wouldn't go into specifics about the severity of Hartley's injury and it's unclear if the Saints think they'll be going with Kasay for the long term or only the short term. Payton said familiarity with Kasay is one reason the Saints chose him.

“With his experience, we know the player a little bit more than some of the others because he’s been in our division,'' Payton said. "He’s consistent. He’s a veteran player and we just started getting some work with him today. Really the adjustment is in the hold because he’s a left-footed kicker.”

Punter Thomas Morstead and backup quarterback Chase Daniel worked as holders with Kasay in Tuesday's practice.

“That’s a good question,'' Payton said when asked who will hold. "I think we’ll go with the holder that is most apt at doing it. Both of them, Chase right now and Thomas Morstead, are getting comfortable doing that and working through the kinks.”