ALAMEDA, Calif. – There is a strong possibility that today will mark the last time the Raiders will face San Diego quarterback Drew Brees in a Chargers uniform.

Given his outing against them two weeks ago, there’s also a good chance the Raiders would just as soon not see him again in any opposing team’s uniform.

Brees torched the Raiders with a 22-for-25, 281-yard, five-touchdown, zero-interception performance in a 42-14 San Diego win on Oct. 31.

It was arguably the best game of what has become a breakout season for Brees, who is in the final year of his four-year contract with the Chargers and likely will depart for free agency at season’s end. After the Chargers’ 43-17 trouncing of New Orleans on Nov. 7, Brees’ passer rating spiked to 108.7. He ranks third in the NFL behind Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning (122.7) and Minnesota’s Daunte Culpepper (115.4). And oh, by the way, under Brees’ direction, the Chargers are 6-3 and tied with Denver atop the AFC West, a sharp turnaround from last year’s 4-12 campaign.

How can a team even dream of letting go of a winning quarterback who has completed over 66 percent of his passes, who has thrown for a career-high 18 touchdowns vs. just three interceptions, who has nine touchdowns and zero interceptions in his past three games, and who may well lead them into the playoffs this year?

It comes down to money.

After Brees scuffled in 2003 – he was benched for five games in the second half and finished with a pedestrian 67.5 passer rating-the Chargers drafted quarterback Eli Manning with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft.

They then traded him to the New York Giants in exchange for quarterback Philip Rivers, the fourth overall pick, and three draft choices.

Rivers held out of training camp before signing a four-year, $40.5 million contract in August. The deal included a $14.25 million signing bonus and an additional $10 million in possible incentives. If Brees’ success continues this season, he’ll likely command in the neighborhood of $9 million per season, meaning it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the Chargers to fit his contract and Rivers’ under the salary cap.

“This is the last year of my contract,” Brees said in a conference call last month. “Either I’m going to be the guy, or I’m going to become a free agent. They’re not going to keep me around to compete.”

Raiders safety Stuart Schweigert, who played with Brees for one season at Purdue, said that he finds it hard to believe that a quarterback having as good a year as Brees could be looking for work.

“He’s had a few struggles there in San Diego, and with them bringing in Philip Rivers, I think it’s a testament to how hard Drew works (that he’s still starting),” Schweigert said. “I mean, as soon as they brought (Rivers) in, he picked it up to another level. You can tell. He’s playing great right now. … It’s strange to have a guy who is doing so well, and whose spot on that team still is not solidified. I guess that’s the way the NFL works.”

And as disappointing as the possibility of free agency might be for him, Brees seems to understand the reasoning.

“It’s a business,” Brees said. “It’s absolutely a business. You kind of realize that the hard way, but what are you going to do? That’s life. It’s all about performance. It’s all about results. I understand that and I think that last year was really kind of a fluke. … I take last year as just kind of a learning experience for me.”