New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees - Post-Practice Media Availability - Wednesday, November 7, 2018
What are your thoughts on the acquisition of Dez Bryant?
"Is it official? Ok, great. I have heard a lot of great things about him. I think he will add a good element to already a pretty good cast of skill players. I look forward to getting to work with him.
As far as the culture that you all have created here. Do you think that's good for somebody who is a big personality?
"Listen, I think this locker room is one of best locker rooms I've ever been a part of. As far as the type of character and type of leadership and that kind of thing. I think if you talk to free agents and guys that have come here over the past couple of seasons I think they would be the first ones to tell you that you know that has a lot to do with I think the reason why we are successful. And we've been able to build a culture that we have is because of the type of guys that we bring in here. Listen, you know there's all kinds of different personalities when it comes to just you know exactly that just personality or you know competitive nature or you know this guy's a jokester or this guy is that. And yet, man everybody, when it's time to work, it's time to work. When it's time to have fun, it's time to have fun. I think everyone complements one another. I think we all want to win. And so at the end of the day, if we can bring somebody in here who can help us win, that's great."
Do you or the locker room get excited about adding big name guys like that?
"Yeah listen, Dez (Bryant) has been a really good player in this league for a long time and there is certainly a skillset that he has that is going to be beneficial you know. And so I look forward to getting to work with him. I look forward to building a rapport with him. I look forward to getting him involved in this offense and just (to) become a complement to all the guys that we already have. I think he'll see that too when he gets here and I'm sure he's been watching from afar as just how he'll integrate into this offense and I think he'll be a great addition."
I think that people take for granted how easy you and Sean (Payton) make it look and even the offensive linemen who have been here. Everyone who has seemingly been here a while. How hard or easy do you think it will be for somebody to integrate into what you will do offensively?
"It's not like you just hand him the playbook and expect him to learn it overnight. It's one of those things that's a process. I think for any new guy coming in, especially a skill player, it's new verbiage. I don't know how much carryover there'll be from what he had in Dallas. Probably not a lot. So I think that's a process, but you just you bring him along. You just want to put him in position to succeed. Right. You want to take the stuff that he's really good at and then integrate him in the offense accordingly. We'll have a plan for that as we go along."
What interactions have you guys had in the past?
"We were at a Pro Bowl together a couple years ago which was great. Then, obviously I saw him on his workout when he came. Seeing him at different events and such too and so it's been good."
Did you watch the workout?
"I did not."
Did the team seek your input on a move like this, especially when it's an offensive skill player?
"We talked about it during the offseason a little bit and it was more so just knowing that a guy like that is out there and there might come a time when we could need a guy like that. I think at the start of the season, we weren't in that position and then all of a sudden a couple of guys get nicked up and then there becomes a place for him. So definitely (he's) been a guy who's been on our radar for a while."
When management makes moves like this or for Eli Apple, it seems like they're all in on winning big this year. Does that filter into the locker room confidence wise that management believes we got something special going on here?
"Absolutely. Listen, we trust our scouting department, the guys in college scouting, the guys in pro scouting. They have grades on all these players from back when they were coming out in the draft. In many cases, these were guys that maybe our guys wanted to draft and then all of a sudden somebody else you know beat them to the punch and then there comes an opportunity to acquire the guy again and then you do it. I think that was kind of the story with Teddy Bridgewater. Our guys really liked him coming out and then all the sudden there is a chance to get a guy like that and so they make the move. So I think that probably applies to a lot of guys you know and especially veteran guys that you have a chance to play against and admire from afar. You have a vision for how they can help you and then all of a sudden the opportunity arises and you are able to make that move."
