Drew Brees is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and some have wondered if he played his last snap for the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The veteran quarterback doesn’t expect that to be the case.
Following his team’s gut-wrenching loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Brees said “I do” when reporters asked him if he expects to remain with the Saints in 2018. Brees, who celebrated his 39th birthday on Monday, insisted he doesn’t want to play anywhere else.
“I mean, I’m more toward the end of my career than the beginning, I know that,” he admitted, per Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. “That’s all I divulge [about how long I plan on playing]. But the season ends, and this one will sting, but I think you look back at the things we accomplished and some of the memories that were made and the relationships that were built and the way this team came together. It really leaves me excited for the future of Saints football.”
Brees last signed a contract extension with the Saints at the start of the 2016 season, and they gave him one additional year at a salary of $24.25 million for 2017. They may prefer another one-year deal this time around, though Brees has some leverage as a free agent. He’ll also still count $18 million against the cap if the Saints don’t re-sign him, so they could prefer to spread that money out over a two-year deal.
Brees said he felt the 2017 Saints had a legitimate chance to win a championship, but he doesn’t think the window has closed.
“I’m hoping I’m a part of a few more that I feel that way about and we can make a run at it,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes experience is a tough teacher, and things happen, and you can go one of two ways with it. Does it put you in the tank? Does it pull you apart? Or does it unite you and make you stronger and mold you and strengthen you? That’s the outlook I’m taking, and I think that’s the outlook that our entire team is taking.”
While his passes don’t have the same velocity that they used to and he missed some throws this year that he normally makes in his sleep, Brees is still better than most quarterbacks in the NFL. He helped the Saints overcome a huge deficit late in Sunday’s game and led what should have been a game-winning field goal drive, but one of the worst missed tackles in playoff history sent Minnesota to the NFC Championship Game. The Saints should come back hungry in 2018, and Sean Payton will almost certainly want Brees under center.
