Chase Daniel is back where he belongs.
After Drew Brees agreed to a five-year, $100 million deal with the New Orleans Saints on Friday, any lingering fantasies about Daniel leading this team into battle were flattened by reality.
Daniel is a backup quarterback again -- squarely entrenched at No. 2 -- and thrilled to be there.
"It was reported like seven minutes ago," Daniel told The Times-Picayune as the news broke, "and just the feeling I get from seeing our teammates on Twitter respond to it is just insane. We get our leader back. We get the guy who runs the ship, the guy who rights the ship. Especially not having (Coach) Sean Payton there, having the guy who runs the team, it's big-time for us."
Daniel logs as many hours with Brees as anyone on the roster. Long hours in the meeting room. Strategy sessions, on-field chatter, heartfelt strolls down Canal Street (unconfirmed). They're friends, and Daniel doesn't begrudge the massive disparity in their pay scales.
"To make that kind of money is so much well deserved," Daniel said. "He deserves every penny."
