Kissimmee, Fla. – Drew Brees doesn't intend to play for another NFL team, but he said it still is encouraging to hear from the New Orleans Saints that the franchise wants him to be its starting quarterback for as long as he's effective and wants to handle the duty.
Brees will become an unrestricted free agent in mid-March. On Tuesday, Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis said Brees, the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards (77,416) and passing touchdowns (547), holds the keys to the position he has manned since signing with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in 2006.
"That obviously makes you feel good, knowing that the team wants you, they want you to stick around," said Brees on Friday, from a community service event at the Boys and Girls Club in Kissimmee, as part of the Pro Bowl players day of service. "I have no intention of going anywhere else.
"At the end of the day, I told myself three years ago that every year is just going to be one at a time. I'm going to take that approach with the way I prepare, with the way I play. And then, at the end of the season, just take a moment to take a deep breath and decompress and spend some time with family and just kind of get away.
"And then, the process starts again at some point. Those conversations will be ongoing. But I'm trying to give it a month or so."
During the interim, he and nine of his teammates are members of the NFC roster that will play in the Pro Bowl on Sunday at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The team actually had 11 Saints, but cornerback Marshon Lattimore opted out due to injury.
This year's selection marks 13 Pro Bowls for Brees. Perhaps none was more memorable than the 2018 game, when the Brees boys took over the event. Baylen, Bowen and Callen Brees commandeered viewers' attention with a personal Wrestlemania on the sideline during the game.
Arguably, it was the most physical of all the activity inside the stadium that day.
"I think the kids had the most fun," Brees said, laughing. "My goal is just to keep them off the field during play. Pregame, they can go nuts. Postgame, they can go nuts. But during the game, I just need them off the white.
"I'll have them down on the sideline for sure. Listen, Pro Bowl is fun. It's fun. There's a lot of goofing around, there's a lot of enjoyment. The NFL, I think, allows that. They allow that to happen during the Pro Bowl because they want it to be a really fun event for the players.
"And also, I think from a fan's perspective, just something different. As I can recall, it was the last year or the year before, (Saints running back) Alvin Kamara was rushing off the edge in a pass rush situation. You never know what to expect from the Pro Bowl. It's fun."
