The Saints are in a delicate spot with Drew Brees

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Yes, the Saints want to keep Taysom Hill. They also want to do right by Drew Brees. And they’d presumably like to keep Teddy Bridgewater around.

It won’t be easy to accomplish all three.

Brees has made it clear that he’ll play for the Saints or retire. And, in theory, the Saints could make Brees an offer he won’t accept, with dollars and/or a role that reflects the rising star of Hill, the best player on the field for either team in the NFC wild-card game between the Vikings and Saints from 22 days ago.

But the Saints have a P.R. concern. They can’t be perceived as being unfair or disrespectful to Brees, floating him on an iceberg before he’s ready to go. If he wants to stay and if he wants to start and if he wants to be paid accordingly and if he wants Hill to remain the master-of-all-trades that he has become, it won’t be hard for Brees to influence public opinion, if he wants to.

There’s no reason to think Brees would want to do that. While intensely competitive, he’s never done anything to suggest he’d take a road other than the high one. If, once the Saints outline the terms of employment that they envision for 2020, Brees realizes that the Saints are hoping Brees will decide to retire, he likely will make that a major factor in his ultimate decision.

Of course, even if Brees says and does the right things, there’s a chance that a false narrative will emerge based on the way these events unfold. It won’t take much for someone to read into things said and not said by Brees and/or the Saints as proof that Brees wants to stay, but that he’s getting the impression he’s not wanted.

Whatever the Saints do, they need to get Hill signed before he becomes a restricted free agent — or they need to get their cap situation in order so that they can match an offer sheet from a team willing to give up a first-round pick to pilfer Hill. If their effort to sign Hill (and if their plan to use him) makes Brees believe that the Saints would very much like to turn the page without saying they want to turn the page, Brees may realize that there’s no real decision for him to make.

Caught in the gears of the Brees-Hill question is Bridgewater. If Brees won’t be back, the Saints presumably would like to keep Bridgewater on the roster. It’s hard to think they could keep all three — and there’s every reason to believe Bridgewater’s 5-0 record as a starter in 2019 and his reputation for being a great teammate and locker-room presence will get his name on the wish lists of teams looking for quarterbacks in 2020.

Brees has said he’ll make a decision in roughly a month. There’s a good chance that, the moment the Saints unveil their proposed offer for 2020, he’ll instantly know what he should do.