I think we find a way to extend Brees, or restructure him more. It would make sense to part with him, but he is so much of who we are, the PR would be a train wreck. People in New Orleans picture Drew and Sean when they think of our rebirth after Katrina.
Moving on makes sense, and we have nobody to blame for being over the cap but ourselves. Byrd was paid market (because he was a top 3 fa), but that didn't work out. Junior was our best pass rusher so we locked him up, but his profinity for hitting women was larger than his desire to play football, so thats a huge blow. Brandon Browner is 31 and getting paid $5mil a year for the next 3, that doesn't make sense. We have been keeping key players (Evans, Colston, Strief, etc.) by essentially paying Peter (living in the now) by robbing Paul (planning for the future). Its a big quagmire, and I don't see us with a record above .500 until 2017 when we will finally be out of salary cap hell.
I don't think Grayson is the QB of the future, but thats just me. I think that if we finish with a top 3 pick (which we will) we should trade down, and look to pick up one of the top 3 qbs in this years draft. McCown isn't the answer but he is a heck of a backup. The guy is smart, and as witnessed last week, he can fill in that Todd Bouman spot if need be.
I will hate to see Brees go, but if he must for the sake of the franchise then he must. We sent Archie Manning (Payton and Eli's dad) to the Vikings for his final years, but that had more to do with our owner being more interested in the bottom line, than for football reasons. If we do move on from Brees, even with that Salary he has, if you can net anything for him, you do it. A team like the Jags, or somebody else who always has cap room, send him there. See if you can net something pretty in return for a guy who will sell tickets for your franchise. But I don't see him retiring in NO.