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Saints coach Sean Payton said this week that soon-to-be free agent quarterback Drew Brees will be back with the team. Today Brees said he agrees with that sentiment completely.

Brees told the Associated Press he would be “beyond stunned” if he and the Saints don’t reach an agreement on a contract extension.


Brees will be

FinSaint

Now, that is what I'm talking about.

SapperSaint

He's gonna be stunned????? I'll have a heart attack due to stupidity!


"Brees also said he hopes that his deal doesn’t prevent the Saints from re-signing other free agents, including guard Carl Nicks and receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem".

I knew he wanted to get paid but not hurt the team.

You're a good man Drew!

CharityMike

What's this Nicks is expected to leave crap? Why would we do that? Makes no sense to LET a pro bowl guard just walk out the door. I call

Halo

He's talking about the money. He'll probably be the 2nd highest paid player in the league.

Will that prevent them from signing Evans and others? We'll see. We have a lot of free-agents we need to keep, but we also aren't doing so bad with the cap from what I've read.

voodooido

Drew Brees optimistic for extension

Associated Press

METAIRIE, La. -- Drew Brees said he would be "beyond stunned" if he and the New Orleans Saints are unable to agree on a contract extension during this offseason, echoing comments by coach Sean Payton this week.
Brees added he doesn't believe his next deal will prevent the Saints from bidding for some other key members of their record-setting offense who will become free agents, including Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks and receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem.


Brees

"My No. 1 priority, and it always has been this, is keeping our team together and making sure we have the right guys in the right positions to make a run at this for a long time," Brees said Friday by phone from his offseason home in San Diego. "We all kind of work together on this thing.
"Put it this way: I'm not worried one bit about my contract or our ability to keep guys at key positions."
At the same time, Brees indicated whether some players return is somewhat out of his control, as is the case every year.
"Is it realistic to think we can keep absolutely everybody? I don't know how realistic that is just because every year on a team there's turnover and I think that's just the business we're in," Brees said.
"That's the biggest reason why it's so sad when the season ends. It's not because the season is over and you don't get to play anymore games or you know you're not going to win a championship that year. The biggest sadness comes in because you're looking around the room and you know that there's guys you've become very close to that you might not be playing with anymore."
Brees is expected to command an annually salary in the range of $18 million, which would be commensurate with the average yearly pay of New England's Tom Brady and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning.
Brees' agent is Tom Condon, who also represents Manning.

NFC South blog


ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas writes about all things NFC South in his division blog.• Blog network: NFL Nation




In 2011, Brees set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2. His prolific passing numbers helped the Saints set a new NFL high for total offensive yards in a season with 7,474.
The former Super Bowl MVP led the Saints to a 13-3 regular-season record and second NFC South division title. New Orleans defeated Detroit in the first round of the playoffs before falling in the final seconds of their second-round game at San Francisco, which hosts the NFC title game on Sunday.
Brees has been invited to the Pro Bowl and plans to attend. By then, he hopes the emotional pain of losing in the playoffs will have subsided enough that he can look back fondly on New Orleans record-shattering season.
"I haven't been able to enjoy it yet to be honest with you. It's been tough this week. I really have tried not to turn on the TV," Brees said. "It's hard not to think about what could have been. But you know what? I take solace in the fact that we fought our heart out, we gave it our best and you know what? It just wasn't meant to be.
"If we're not playing for a championship, I guess there's no place I'd rather be than going to Hawaii for a week with the family and be able to enjoy the Pro Bowl and be around other guys that have earned that trip. And maybe that's going to be the time to decompress and reflect back on the season a little bit, but for now it still stings."
Brees arrived in New Orleans in 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina had struck. Since then, he has passed for more yards than any other quarterback in the NFL (28,394) while lifting the Saints to new heights and simultaneously helping a region heal from Katrina's devastation.
In addition to lifting the spirits of football fans, he and wife Brittany have worked through their Brees Dream foundation to sponsor millions of dollars in projects primarily aimed at improving the lives of children in the area, through the refurbishing of schools or renovation of athletic fields and facilities.
He said his family's increasing strong ties with the region is another reason it's hard to envision playing anywhere else.
"It's been an unbelievable journey over the last six years to watch how far, not only our organization and out team, but just the mental psyche of the city" has improved, Brees said.

ScottF

Cap will eventually be an issue, probably this year. Glad to see Drew sees that as well. Time to get creative, like Benson donating a million to Brees' charity and then paying Drew a little less

also, Arrington's rise might mean Devery or Meachem have become too expensive,

73Saint

He's such a class act. How will we ever be able to come close to replacing this guy. I say come close, because until Brees, I never even imagined we would have someone of his caliber. As a fan from the 70's, I hope all of the younger Saints fans realize just how lucky they are to be a part of the Drew Brees era!!!!

SmashMouth

The short answer is that he is not replaceable .... I shutter to think of the day he retires ...

SaintsBro

I know this is just sort of pulling stuff out of my butt, but I had a feeling for a long time, or a hunch. That the the agent, Tom Condon, had his two star clients lined up on the track, like trains coming into the station -- first Manning was gonna get the biggest contract ever, and then his plan was that Brees was gonna come along a year or so later, and top it, be the highest paid QB ever, by just a hair more than Manning -- both with the same agent. To an agent, that's like winning back to back consecutive Super Bowls. Quite a hat trick, he'd be the toast of the town.

And I think the ridiculousness of the Michael Vick deal, in the middle of that plan, was sort of unexpected, and kind of insane money -- I think it sort of blew the wind out of that plan, this storybook idea of having Brees' contract come along and top Manning's contract, both with the same agent. And I think the freakish injury to Peyton maybe had something to do with it as well. So now I think they are looking at a much more realistic number, a Tom Brady type number.