Brees: No plans to field offers from other teams
While packing up for the offseason, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said, “It’s the same way I felt two days ago. It’s the same way I felt 12 years ago. I’ll be here as long as they’ll have me.”
METAIRIE, La. — Drew Brees dispensed with technicalities regarding his contract and spoke as if his return to New Orleans next season was virtually assured.
“It’s the same way I felt two days ago. It’s the same way I felt 12 years ago. I’ll be here as long as they’ll have me,” Brees said Tuesday in the locker room at Saints headquarters, where players were packing up for the offseason following their dramatic elimination from the playoffs in Minnesota last weekend.
Brees acknowledged he’d have leverage if he chose to listen to offers from other clubs, but asserted that he has no plans to do so for professional and personal reasons.
The Saints have pieces in place to be a contender in upcoming seasons, having nearly advanced to the NFC title game with a roster featuring numerous first- and second-year regulars.
“Do I feel like this team has what it takes? Yes, I do,” Brees said.
Then there are Brees’ everdeepening ties to New Orleans. He was 27 and childless when he arrived. Now he’s a father of four who turned 39 on Monday.
“Certainly, the relationship with this city will always play a strong role in me wanting to be here and ... wanting to finish my career here,” Brees said.
And there’s no guarantee he’ll have better synergy with any coach than he’s had with Sean Payton.
“We have a great history together,” Brees said, recalling how Payton courted him in 2006 while he was still rehabilitating from major throwing-shoulder surgery. “I’m here because he believed in me.” File, Jeff Roberson / AP
Brees has since passed for 58,097 yards and 408 touchdowns, won a Super Bowl and led New Orleans to six playoff berths. This season, his completion rate of 72 percent set an NFL record.
Payton on Tuesday declined to discuss how the team will address Brees’ contract, saying now is “not the time.”
But letting Brees go would be costly for New Orleans — financially and on the field.
Brees’ contract technically runs through 2018, but voids automatically when the new league year begins on March 14. That was done for two reasons. The Saints received salary cap flexibility they needed in 2016 by spreading Brees’ guaranteed money over two more years. Brees gained leverage because the Saints lose $18 million in salary cap space in 2018 if they fail to re-sign him.