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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.

Carl Nicks repeatedly has said he’d like to stay with the New Orleans Saints.

But, as we count down the hours until Tuesday’s start of free agency, Nicks said he still hasn’t received an offer from the only team he has ever played for. He also said he believes the Saints can’t afford him and don’t want to “disrespect’’ him by making him an offer that won’t make him the league’s highest-paid guard (more than $8.5 million per season).

Barring a last-minute surge in salary-cap room, the Saints probably will let Nicks hit the open market. As I’ve written before, NFC South rivals Atlanta and Tampa Bay could be in the market for Nicks. So could a lot of other teams around the league. That’s because Nicks is the league’s best guard and he’s only 26.

If the Saints lose Nicks, they’re losing a lot. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Nicks and teammate Jermon Bushrod led all offensive players in snaps played in 2011 with 1,177. In other words, Nicks and Bushrod played in every one of New Orleans’ offensive snaps. New England quarterback Tom Brady (1,149 snaps) and Atlanta Justin Blalock (1,147) and tackle Tyson Clabo (1,147) rounded out the top five.

In addition to being a dominant pass blocker, Nicks also has been stellar in the running game. The Saints averaged 6.6 yards when running to the left last season. That average ranked No. 2 in the NFL.

Nicks and Jahri Evans have formed the best guard tandem in the league in recent years. Their play probably has helped center Brian De La Puente, Bushrod and right tackle Zach Strief.

If Nicks leaves, the Saints still have an elite guard in Evans. But they’ll no longer have an elite player on both sides of the offensive line.

The man who made the New Orleans Saints could end up breaking them.

Drew Brees arrived in 2006 as the Saints and the city of New Orleans were still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He brought instant credibility, an explosive brand of offense and sustained success for a franchise that had been hapless through most of its existence. He also played a vital role in rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf South region.

Now, the price tag on all that is coming due. Brees is scheduled to become a free agent on March 13. He and the Saints are negotiating, but reports indicate the two sides remain far apart. That in itself is a little unbelievable because the parameters of this deal are obvious. Brees deserves to be the highest-paid player in NFL history.

He’s coming off a year in which he set the NFL record for passing yards in a season (5,476), and he should get at least as much as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, who average $18 million per year.

I have no doubt that, when all is said and done, Brees will remain with the Saints. If negotiations on a long-term deal continue to fail, the Saints will simply put the franchise tag on their franchise quarterback.

But, either way, this is when we could begin to see the beginning of the end of the Saints as we know them.

They’re not going to be the same team they were last season when they went 13-3. They might not even be the same team they were in 2010 when they went 11-5. And they certainly aren’t going to be the same team they were in the magical 2009 season when they won the Super Bowl.

They’ll have the same quarterback, and that’s a great start. But the economics of his contract mean the Saints aren’t going to have the same quality of players at a lot of other positions. That’s not Brees’ fault, or the team’s fault. It’s simply reality in the modern NFL.

By the time next season rolls around and everything has shaken out, the Saints could be taking several steps back. They’ll still have a high-powered offense because they’ll have Brees, Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham, but that offense might not be quite the machine it’s been the past few seasons. That’s because some parts are going to be gone and they can’t truly be replaced.

On defense, which wasn’t an area of strength to begin with, the Saints have a new coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, who needs new pieces to execute his scheme. He’s not going to be able to get all he needs -- at least not this offseason.

So you’re looking at an offense that probably will be a notch or two below what it’s been in recent seasons. And you’re looking at a defense that’s probably going to be far from dominant.

Gee, that sounds pretty much like the Saints were in 2007 and ’08. They scored a lot of points, but the offense wasn’t quite perfect. The defense was far below perfect. That added up to mediocre seasons that didn’t end in trips to the playoffs.

That could be what the Saints face in 2012.

We haven’t even seen the full fallout yet, but we can start looking ahead and, no matter how you slice it, it’s tough to paint a pretty picture.

Brees isn’t the only big-name free agent the Saints have, but he’s the only one they’re absolutely sure to keep. The same can’t be said for guard Carl Nicks and wide receiver Marques Colston. It definitely can’t be said for receiver Robert Meachem and cornerback Tracy Porter, who aren’t on the Nicks/Colston level have been valuable contributors.

At absolute best, the Saints will be able to sign Brees and then place the franchise tag on either Nicks or Colston. At worst, they use the franchise tag on Brees, while Colston and Nicks both walk.

You don’t replace Nicks. He’s the best guard in the NFL and he may be just hitting his prime. Although the Saints have another very good guard in Jahri Evans, they no longer would have the unquestioned best guard tandem in the NFL.

Without Nicks, Brees would lose his best protector. Any quarterback, even Brees, isn’t quite as good when he’s getting pressured (think back to last season’s stunning loss to St. Louis).

Colston probably isn't on his way to the Hall of Fame, but he’s been Brees’ favorite target since they joined forces in 2006. Colston has had 1,000-yard receiving seasons in five of his six years. He’s a big target who isn't afraid to go over the middle. Take him away and take Meachem away, and the Saints would still have Lance Moore, Devery Henderson and Adrian Arrington. Moore and Henderson are nice, experienced receivers, but they don’t do the things Colston does.

And when you’ve got no cap room to sign free agents and no first-round draft pick, where are you going to get a receiver who does anything close to what Colston does? And where are you going to get a guard who is anywhere near as good as Nicks?

So let’s subtract a few points a game from the Saints’ offense going forward. And we’re only just beginning to talk about a defense that could end up giving up more points than it has in recent seasons.

This defense isn’t loaded with talent and we soon could see subtraction by subtraction. This salary-cap jam almost certainly will force the Saints to let Porter walk. That’s not that big a deal. The Saints have a top-flight corner in Jabari Greer, and it’s pretty apparent they’ve been preparing for Porter’s eventual departure by drafting Patrick Robinson and Johnny Patrick in recent years.

But the cost of keeping Brees, and maybe Nicks or Colston, means it’s almost certain the Saints are going to have to trim some cap room by releasing some prominent defensive players or at least restructuring their contracts.

Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith are likely the top two targets for that. Although both are aging and Vilma is coming off a knee injury, those two have been New Orleans’ defensive leaders throughout coach Sean Payton’s tenure. Take Vilma away from a group of linebackers that’s ordinary, and you’ve got a group of linebackers that’s less than ordinary. And you're without the next guy in the leadership chain after Brees.

Again, the Saints don’t have the currency (cap room or prime draft picks) to make major upgrades here. Take Smith away from a pass rush that hasn’t even been ordinary, and you’ve got the potential for huge problems.

Unlike predecessor Gregg Williams, whose defensive philosophy was to be opportunistic and create turnovers, Spagnuolo believes in playing more of a shutdown defense, and he likes to generate almost all of his pressure from the front four. With Smith, the Saints have one guy up front who can rush the passer. Without him, they won’t have any.

Good luck trying to find a guy in the middle rounds of the draft or a low-priced free agent who will step right in and give you double-digit sacks. Spagnuolo is a good coach and his hiring set off celebrations in New Orleans. But a coach is only as good as the players around him, and Spagnuolo is probably not going to have a great deal of defensive talent in his first year.

That could be the story of the Saints in 2012.

Keeping their quarterback would at least keep them competitive, but they won't take steps forward if their roster is wiped out and the cap situation keeps them from being rebuilt.

Back in the dull days of last summer’s lockout there was a story that got some brief attention but quietly faded away as a new collective bargaining agreement was reached.

Drew Brees and Peyton Manning, two of the named plaintiffs in the antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, asked to be exempt from the franchise tag. Nothing ever came of that, and there is irony in that now as Brees faces the very real possibility of being hit with the franchise tag.

The New Orleans quarterback is currently scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. Negotiations are continuing with the Saints, and there are reports the sides are far apart and the team is prepared to use the tag on Brees if a deal isn’t reached by next week.

Although the franchise tag would pay Brees more than $14 million and keep him with the Saints, the events of last summer are a pretty strong indication that the quarterback doesn’t want to be tagged. An unhappy Brees would not be a good thing.

Why would he be unhappy if he’s getting more than $14 million in guaranteed money? Brees has a reputation as being one of the truly great guys in the sports world, and that’s deserved. But Brees also has ego and pride -- if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be half the player he is. If he doesn’t get a contract as the highest-paid player in the game, it’s going to eat at his pride, and that’s not healthy for the quarterback or the Saints.

Also, there’s a perception out there that using the franchise tag on Brees will destroy the Saints’ salary-cap situation. That’s not entirely true. Tagging Brees would bring a cap hit of $14.6 million. If he gets a long-term deal and his contract is structured anything like recent deals by Manning and Tom Brady, his first-year cap figure likely would be more than $16 million. The tag actually would save the Saints a bit of cap money, and they need all the help they can get in that department.

Starting Monday, teams can begin using franchise tags. They can use that tactic to protect a potential free agent any time between then and the March 5 deadline.

This could come into play for two NFC South teams -- the Saints and Falcons. I’m not seeing anyone on the list of free agents for the Bucs and Panthers that would make sense to use a franchise tag on.

But I’m seeing several possibilities each for the Falcons and Saints. Let’s start with the Saints because that’s where the biggest names are.

Quarterback Drew Brees, guard Carl Nicks and receiver Marques Colston all are potential free agents. A lot of people are speculating the Saints will use the tag on Brees.

But I don’t see that happening. I think the priority here is to get a long-term deal done with Brees. Using the franchise tag is often a last resort when contract negotiations aren’t going well. Getting stuck with the franchise tag often angers a player that is seeking long-term security and the last thing the Saints want is an angry Brees.

Besides, estimates say the franchise tag cost for a quarterback will be a little more than $16 million. If the Saints structure Brees’ deal somewhat similar to the most recent contracts signed by Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, they can get his cap figure for this year to somewhere around $14 million. That would give them a little extra cap room to work with as they try to keep Nicks and Colston.

Plus, there’s one other problem with putting the franchise tag on Brees. It wouldn’t completely protect him. Another team could attempt to sign him to a monster deal, but it would cost that team two first-round draft picks. Teams have been hesitant to do that in recent years because the cost is so steep. But this is Brees we’re talking about. I don’t think many teams would hesitate to cough up two first-round picks for Brees.

I think the only logical thing here is for the Saints to get Brees locked up for the long term. Once they do that, they can resort to the franchise tag if they can’t get a long-term deal done with Nicks or Colston.

The Falcons also have a couple of candidates for the franchise tag. Atlanta’s prominent free agents are cornerback Brent Grimes and middle linebacker Curtis Lofton.

Like the Saints, I think the Falcons would prefer to get long-term deals with both players and would only use the franchise tag if all else fails. The Falcons have some cap room to work with, but franchising Grimes or Lofton would be expensive.

The estimate for the franchise tag for a cornerback is $10.6 million. That’s a ton of money for a player like Grimes. He’s become a very good cornerback, but he’s still undersized and never is going to be truly elite. The Falcons already have a ton of money tied up in cornerback Dunta Robinson.

Franchising Lofton would cost an estimated $8.8 million. Like Grimes, Lofton is a very good player, but he’s not elite. There even have been some rumblings that Lofton could become a two-down linebacker with new coordinator Mike Nolan taking over the defense.

Here’s some information Drew Brees and his agent might want to use as they negotiate a new contract with the New Orleans Saints.

Brees is the most powerful athlete in all of sports. That’s according to the Bloomberg Businessweek/Horrow Sports Ventures 2012 Power 100 rankings. The rankings take into account on-field performance and off-field activities. In part, the rankings are based on name awareness, appeal, influence, trustworthiness and overall popularity.

Here’s a look at the top 10 athletes on the list, followed by their sports

• Brees, football
• Aaron Rodgers, football

• Tom Brady, football

• LeBron James, basketball

• Rafael Nadal, tennis

• Roger Federer, tennis

• Shaquille O’Neal, basketball

• Shaun White, action sports

• Novak Djokovic, tennis

• Calvin Johnson, football

With the season over for the Saints, the hot topic in New Orleans suddenly has become the contract situation of quarterback Drew Brees.

His contract expired the moment the Saints lost to San Francisco on Saturday. Technically, he can become a free agent in March. But it’s pretty much a certainty the Saints will re-sign him. If Brees somehow was to leave the Saints, it would be one of the biggest crimes in sports history.

Besides, I don’t think Brees wants to leave New Orleans and the Saints don’t want to lose him. So why wasn’t a deal worked out long ago? Well, there were ongoing talks throughout much of the season, but Brees tabled them later in the year because he didn’t want distractions.

On one level, a new deal for Brees will be very complicated because it’s going to involve a lot of money and have major implications on the team’s salary-cap status for the duration of the contract. On another level, it’s not all that complicated.

Let’s be real honest, Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and deserves to be paid like it. There’s an easy way to get a general feel for what his new deal should be like. That’s to take a look at the contracts of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks.

I’ll share contract details of the three highest-paid quarterbacks with you for the sake of comparison. Let’s run down the contracts of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Michael Vick. When it comes to average money per year, they are the three best-paid quarterbacks in the league.

You can argue Brees is better than Brady or Manning. At very least, he’s in their ballpark. I don’t think you can quite say the same about Vick, but his contract might mark a good line of demarcation after the truly elite quarterbacks.

Going by average money per year, Brady is tied for the NFL lead. He averages $18 million per season on a contract extension that was signed in 2010. When Brady signed that deal, he got a $16 million signing bonus. His salary-cap figure for 2012 is $15.2 million. His cap figure escalates to $18.2 million for 2013 and 2014.

Manning signed a new deal in July, before anyone realized he’d miss the entire 2011 season with a neck injury. Manning’s deal also averages $18 million per year. He received a $20 million signing bonus in July. The popular report is that Manning has a $28 million option bonus in March, which is only partly true, when it comes to structure. If the Colts, elect not to pick up the option, Manning gets the full $28 million right away. If the Colts keep Manning, the option bonus is deferred over several points through 2015. Manning’s slated cap figure for 2012 is $17 million. It jumps to $18 million in 2013, $18 million in 2014, $19 million in 2015 and $20 million in 2016.

Vick renegotiated his contract in August and it averages $16.667 million per year. Vick’s bonus money wasn’t as big as Brady’s or Manning’s. He got a $7 million signing bonus, plus a $3 million roster bonus for 2011. But Vick also has an additional $5 million in roster bonuses for later in the contract. His cap figures are scheduled to be $13.9 million in 2012, $16.9 million in 2013 and 2014, $17.9 million in 2015 and $20 million in 2016.

Bottom line: Brees should get more than Vick and something similar to what Brady and Manning got. The structure is open to creativity. But I think it’s safe to say Brees can expect to average somewhere around $18 million per season and the Saints can count on his yearly cap figure starting off somewhere around $15 million.

As always, we covered lots of ground in Friday’s NFC South chat. Most of the talk was about the Falcons and the Saints because they each are playing in postseason games this weekend, but we also touched a bit on the Panthers and Buccaneers.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

Sasquatch (Minnesota): Write this name down : Chris Ivory. For all of the (well-deserved) attention that Brees and the receivers have been getting, Ivory has quietly been a beast running the ball late this season, and there are no more individual records to chase. You may start pre-writing your Sunday article about Ivory and the running game right now. Bank on it. Sasquatch is wise.

Pat Yasinskas: I like the call. Ivory has been running well lately. I think he also could be a huge factor if Saints have to play an outdoor game.

Mike (Houston): is there any possibility that the resigning of Brees (who might make more than any player ever) could cripple the Saints and keep them from making a run like the Patriots are currently on 9for the past 10 years)?

Pat Yasinskas: No, Mickey Loomis is a smart man. He'll structure that deal in a way that won't cripple anything.

Eliot (Roswell, GA): Word of unleashing "the Predator" has surfaced in the last day or so. How much of a difference do you think it will make for the Falcons' D-line with Abraham in there for most, if not all of the snaps?

Pat Yasinskas: Yeah, but, at Abe's age, does he necessarily have a bigger impact with more playing time?

Mark (GA): The Falcons defense has collapsed against good competition the past few years. Any talk of bringing in another DC if this playoff run does not go well. I know this defense is essentially Mike Smiths, but we can’t stop anyone when it counts.

Pat Yasinskas: I would think there will be a scapegoat if the Falcons don't win a playoff game this year and DC would be a good possibility.

Amar (laplace): Love your blog. No one around the league trying to get any of the Saints' coaches ? Surprised ?

Pat Yasinskas: Not really. Pete Carmichael is overshadowed by Payton because Payton calls the plays. Plus, Carmichael doesn't have a dynamic personality. Gregg Williams is a known commodity, but it's not like his defense has been lighting it up the last two seasons.

Charles (San Francisco): Hey Pat, Happy New Year. Pat are you surprised Mark Dominik survived? And though the coaches took the fall, how much did the players immaturity and lack of veteran leadership resulted in the inability to stop the bleeding?

Pat Yasinskas: Not surprised at all. Remember, Bucs gave Dominik a four-year contract extension last offseason. All they did with Raheem was pick up his two-year option. That right there tells me that, even after 10-6, they were sold on Dominik, but still weren't sure about Raheem.

Sam (San Diego): Do you believe that Cam Newton has the potential to become one of the faces of the NFL in the Peyton Manning Tom Brady mold?

Pat Yasinskas: Sure, he certainly has the potential to be that -- maybe even more.

Here’s the complete transcript of Friday’s NFC South chat.

In yet another way, it looks like Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees were pretty much even this season.

According to Total QBR, Rodgers and Brees were by far the two best quarterbacks in the league in 2011. There was only the slightest difference between them.

Rodgers finished the season with an 85.2 Total QBR and Brees was second in the league at 84.0. After that, there was a big drop to third place -- Tom Brady at 74.2 and Tony Romo (70.1) were the only other quarterbacks above 70.

But the NFC South did have another top-five quarterback in this category. Atlanta’s Matt Ryan was No. 5 at 67.5.

The two other NFC South starting quarterbacks didn’t fare as well in Total QBR. Carolina rookie Cam Newton was No. 16 at 56.6, which is slightly above what is considered an average score (50).

Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman fell below that line. He was No. 23 at 43.3.

Even if you had Drew Brees' cellphone number, there’s no way you could reach him right now.

You wouldn't even get a ring; you'd hear, “This mailbox is full.’’ It’s been that way for weeks now, and you can’t really blame the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints.

Contract talks? They can wait until after the season.

Dan Marino? He can wait, too.

“[Marino] actually reached out to me this week and wanted to do something, but I’d really like to just focus on the game,’’ Brees told the New Orleans media Thursday. “I respectfully just kind of said let’s wait here and just kind of let everything fall into place the way it is, and then we’ll definitely sit down. I would love to do that.’’

There’s no disrespect toward Marino intended, and we will get to how much respect Brees has for Marino’s record of 5,084 passing yards in a season in a minute. You also can bet Brees will be more than willing to resume the contract talks he tabled weeks ago.

Just, not right now!

The way Brees is approaching life these days is pretty much the same way he approaches a drop-back. He’s still looking at his first read.

A contract extension that could make him the highest-paid player in history and sitting down with a Hall of Famer are also in the playbook. But they’re down the list of progressions, and Brees isn’t ready to check off any time soon.

It may sound corny or clichéd, but Brees is focused entirely on one thing. He wants what he and the Saints got in the 2009 season. He wants a Super Bowl championship.

“Honestly, I’ve tried to just kind of numb my senses to the whole thing right now and just think about winning football games, executing this offense, being prepared as I can be, focusing on the process and just knowing that the result will take care of itself,’’ Brees said.

If you’ve spent much time around Brees, you’d know that what might seem corny and clichéd from others is simply Brees being himself. You can’t shake Brees on the field with an 11-man blitz, and it’s the same way off the field.

Brees is every bit as aware as the rest of us that he needs only 305 passing yards to break the record Marino set in 1984. He’s also very aware his contract expires the moment the season ends, and he’s smart enough to know he has as much market value as any other football player on the planet.

But Brees wants to talk about only one thing. He wants to talk about the “Monday Night Football’’ game with the Atlanta Falcons. If the Saints (11-3) win, they'll clinch the NFC South title. Brees has been locked on this progression for months.

“We all looked at the calendar prior to the season starting,’’ Brees said. “We all said, 'Hey, Monday night. The day after Christmas. Atlanta. Week 17. That’s going to be a meaningful game obviously within the division.' Then you add on some of the other stuff, and it just makes it more meaningful. I guess we can’t make this game any bigger than it already is.’’

Even though that’s precisely what Brees is trying to avoid, you can make Monday night much bigger than he describes it. Brees is on the verge of breaking a record that was set just before he celebrated his fifth birthday.

This is football’s version of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s record or Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire slugging it out. This is history, and Brees has been down this road before. In 2008, he spent much of the season on pace to break Marino’s record.

But he finished that season with 5,069 yards, which seemed appropriate at the time because that New Orleans team was mediocre and didn’t make the playoffs. At that point, Brees did sit down with Marino, who took his team to the Super Bowl in his record-setting season.

“We talked about it after the ’08 season,’’ Brees said. “At the time it was kind of just like, ‘OK, we made our run at it, and the chances of that happening again are probably really, really slim.'"

Well, it’s happening again. The Saints are winning, and in Brees’ eyes, it won’t be a shame if he breaks the record this time around, as long as some other things happen.

“Is that a significant record?’’ Brees said. “Yeah, I’d say that’s very significant. ... All those are significant records, but the most important thing is winning this game to win the division, to continue our win streak and also stay in line with our goals to continue to progress as we move towards the playoffs here.’’

Critics have said that breaking Marino’s record won’t mean a lot. They say the league has changed to make life easier for quarterbacks and much more difficult for defenses. They also point to the fact that New England’s Tom Brady also is on pace to break the record, and Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning aren’t far off.

There’s some validity to the argument about the game changing to favor offenses. But you can’t blame Brees for that.

The guy just happened to come along and hook up with coach Sean Payton, an offensive mastermind who probably could have taken Brees and exploited defenses in any era.

“Having Sean Payton has been everything for me,’’ Brees said. “Having the opportunity here to be with him, to be coached by him and mentored by him. I think he brought out a confidence in me that I didn’t have before. I’ve always been a really confident guy, but I think there were certain things that might not have ever come out unless I was with him. I think that that has showed. Each and every year I feel like I’ve gotten a little bit better and that’s always been my goal, was just to get a little bit better. And statistics don’t always show that. But in my heart, I know that that’s true, and he’s a huge part of that.’’

The statistics are showing that Brees is getting better. In his heart, the record and the new contract will mean a lot more if they come in tandem with another championship.

Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan is not going to be the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, but he at least is in the conversation.

Well, sort of. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers almost certainly will win the award, and you could at least make a strong case for New Orleans’ Drew Brees as the alternative choice. Beyond that, there aren’t any other realistic candidates.

But colleague Mike Sando does a weekly MVP Watch and he has Ryan at No. 5 this week, behind Rodgers, Brees, Tom Brady and Calvin Johnson. Each week, Sando sends out a note to all the division bloggers and asks us for input on players that may be worthy of being on his 10-man list.

For most of the season, my response has been something like, “I’ve got Brees and you know all about him. Beyond that, I’ve got nothing much to offer."

But that started to change last week, as Ryan was coming off a four-touchdown game against Carolina. I mentioned him to Sando and Ryan went out last Thursday night and added three touchdowns in an easy victory against Jacksonville.

When Sando’s weekly email came Tuesday night, he mentioned that several guys were falling off his list. I went to bat for Ryan, based on the fact he’s been much more consistent and effective recently and he also has a very good chance to finish with career highs in touchdown passes and passing yards.

Sando worked him in at No. 5, which I don’t think is out of line at the moment. But I liked the way Sando phrased his synopsis on Ryan’s candidacy. Essentially, Sando said a victory by Ryan and the Falcons against the Saints on Monday night, could move Ryan even higher up the list. But he also added a loss could move Ryan down the list -- or off it.

I’d say that’s fair.

By the way, when I emailed Sando on Tuesday night, I gave him a wild card besides Brees and Ryan. I suggested he take a look at Darren Sproles’ full body of work -- as a runner, receiver and return man -- and the overall impact he’s had on the Saints.

Sando listened and was intrigued, but couldn’t quite bring himself to put Sproles on the list. He said he’d keep Sproles in mind for next week. Just like Ryan, whatever happens Monday night could have a big impact on if Sproles is on the list next week.

New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees threw for 412 yards and five touchdowns in Sunday’s victory against Minnesota.

Those numbers come with all sorts of implications and significance, so let’s take a look.

• First off, Brees now has 4,780 passing yards and needs only 305 in the final two games to break Dan Marino’s single-season record for passing yards (5,084 in 1984).

• Brees’ performance Sunday was historic in itself. Brees became the first player ever to pass for 400 yards and five touchdowns while compiling a completion percentage of at least 80, according to Elias Sports Bureau. He’s also the sixth player in NFL history to post 400 passing yards, five touchdown passes and no interceptions in a game.

• It also was Brees’ 11^th game with at least 300 passing yards this season and that’s an NFL record.

• It was Brees’ sixth career game with five passing touchdowns, which ties Marino and Peyton Manning for the all-time record.

• Brees isn’t the only quarterback with a shot to eclipse Marino’s record. Three others at least have a mathematical chance. New England’s Tom Brady would need to average 246 yards over the final two games to pass Marino. Eli Manning needs to average 361.5 yards and Aaron Rodgers needs to average 361.5.

• Brees now has at least one touchdown pass in 41 straight games. That’s the second-longest streak in history. Johnny Unitas set the record (47).

• Brees now has 37 touchdown passes on the season. That’s a new franchise record. Brees had thrown for 34 touchdown passes in two other seasons.

ATLANTA – Let’s take a look at the statistical highlights from the Falcons' 41-14 victory against Jacksonville on Thursday night.

• My favorite of the bunch comes from ESPN Stats & Information and puts into perspective just how big a game defensive end John Abraham had. He became only the sixth player since the start of the 2001 season to record at least 3.5 sacks and force at least two fumbles in a single game. All of Abraham’s sacks came on downs when the Falcons only sent four pass rushers. He is the first player in the past two seasons to record more than three sacks via standard pass rushes in a single game.

• Abraham now has 111 career sacks and moved past Greg Townsend (109.5 sacks) and into 16^th place on the NFL’s all-time list.

• Quarterback Matt Ryan was especially good when throwing inside the numbers. He completed 11 of 12 passes (91.7 percent), for two touchdowns and averaged 8.7 yards per attempt. In the first 13 games, Ryan completed 65.1 percent of his passes between the numbers and averaged 8.5 yards per attempt with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

• Ryan targeted Roddy White on 62 percent of his attempts. That’s the second-highest target percentage for any player since the start of the 2008 season. (The highest was when Denver’s Kyle Orton targeted Brandon Marshall on 68.3 percent of his throws in a 2009 game against the Colts.) All seven passes Ryan threw that traveled at least 15 yards in the air were intended for White.

• White increased his franchise record for 100-yard receiving games to 27.

• Ryan threw three touchdowns against Jacksonville after passing for four in the previous game, against Carolina. That marked the first time in his career he has thrown three or more touchdowns in back-to-back games.

• Ryan’s career record in December improved to 10-3 (.769 winning percentage). Only Tom Brady (.900), Philip Rivers (.857) and Peyton Manning (.833) have better December winning percentages.

• Atlanta’s 41 points were a season high.

• The Falcons are now 25-6 at the Georgia Dome since 2008. That’s the best home record for any NFC team in that span.

• Atlanta’s five sacks tied a season high. The Falcons first had five sacks in the season opener against Chicago.

In a season of milestones, Drew Brees will hit another one Sunday when the Saints play at Tennessee. Brees will be making his 150^th career start and that brings up some very interesting numbers.

Brees already has 39,076 career passing yards in 149 games. He almost certainly will move past Peyton Manning, who had 39,164 in his first 150 games, on Sunday. That would place Brees at No. 2 on the all-time list.

At No. 1 is Dan Marino with 39,498 yards. Brees would need 422 yards against the Titans to tie Marino. That’s a huge number. But nothing’s really out of the question with Brees.

Brees also is No. 5 on the all-time list for touchdown passes in the first 150 career starts. He has 264. But it’s pretty unlikely Brees will be able to climb any higher on the list. Brett Favre is No. 4 with 272. Marino (290) holds the record. Manning (286) and Tom Brady (279) are the next two guys on the list.

Let’s start this out by qualifying that it came against a dismal Tampa Bay defense. But Carolina rookie Cam Newton was the NFC South’s best quarterback by at least one measure Sunday.

Newton’s Total QBR was 91.7. That was even higher than Drew Brees, who usually tops the division’s quarterbacks. Brees’ Total QBR was 84.7, good for fourth in the league. But Newton ranked third behind only Tom Brady (93.6) and Aaron Rodgers (92.4). The scores also included the Thursday night game.

So Newton’s in the same conversation as Brady, Rodgers and Brees now? Well, there still are likely to be some ups and downs in his maturation process. But Sunday showed Newton can play with the best of them at times. His three rushing touchdowns helped his score greatly, and the 91.7 Total QBR was the highest of Newton’s career.

Tampa Bay’s Josh Johnson, who made his first start since 2009, was No. 8 at 67.7. Atlanta’s Matt Ryan was No. 25 at 31.2.

On the season, Brees is No. 2 in average Total QBR at 79.5. Ryan is No. 8 at 63.1. Newton is No. 15 at 56.8. Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman, who sat out Sunday with a shoulder injury, is No. 22 at 47.0.