Drew Brees is technically a free agent, but he won't stay that way for long.
New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis echoed Wednesday his quarterback's wishes to stay with the franchise, telling reporters at the Senior Bowl that New Orleans intends to re-sign the greatest player in franchise history.
"We want him to be our quarterback, and we'll get going on that at some point," Loomis said, per The Times-Picayune.
Loomis added that while there haven't been any negotiations since the end of New Orleans' season nearly two weeks ago, he doesn't expect there to any hold up when the two parties get down to brass tacks.
"We'll get to it," Loomis said. "I'm not anticipating any big issues, so we'll see."
Coach Sean Payton expressed even more confidence in the situation while speaking to NFL Network's Jane Slater at the Pro Bowl on Thursday:
Brees said following the Saints' heartbreaking Divisional Round loss to Minnesota that he'll stay with the Saints "as long as they'll have me."
New Orleans has until March 12 to negotiate exclusively with Brees. The 39-year-old quarterback has an $18 million dead salary-cap charge next season.
Brees showed no real drastic sign in 2017 of aging out of his Pro Bowl status. He led the league in completions (386), completion percentage (72.0) and yards per attempt (8.1). Tailoring his game to fit New Orleans' tailback-centric personnel, Brees was asked to go downfield less. The result? His lowest passing yards total (4,334) since joining the Saints in 2006.
