Drew Brees is in the final year of a five-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2012. But despite the quarterback’s age (37) Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has every intention of signing Brees to an extension.
“We want Drew to be our quarterback this year, next year and the foreseeable future,” Loomis told FOXSports.com‘s Alex Marvez. “I know he feels like he’s got more years left in him. I would say we feel that way as well. We’ll get that worked out in a way that helps our team and obviously fits in with what he wants to do.”
Despite the team’s 7-9 finish, Brees ranked 6th among all quarterbacks, according toFootball Outsiders‘ metrics. In fact, the biggest reason for the team’s losing record: an historically terrible defense. But Loomis thinks the Saints’ youth movement — coupled with the team winning three of its final four regular-season games — portends good things.
“We’re pretty excited about some of the younger players that we’ve acquired over the last couple years,” Loomis said. “I believe we’ve played more first-year and rookie players than anyone else in the league this past year in terms of number of plays. The bulk of that is on defense.
“We’ve got some work to do. We’ve got to improve our pass rush and front seven. That will be one of the goals we have in this offseason — to get some help up front so we can climb defensively and help out our offense.”
Another reason to give Brees an extension: he’ll count $30 million against the salary cap under his current deal. That won’t work for a team with plenty of roster concerns and a limited budget to try to fix it all.
Story provided by Ryan Wilson
