Drew Brees, Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis all spoke in unison this week — Brees will be back as the Saints quarterback.
Brees told NFL Network he will "absolutely" be the Saints quarterback in 2018.
"I’m not going anywhere else," Brees said Thursday at the Pro Bowl in Orlando.
#Saints QB Drew Brees and I talk about how long he plans to play and tells me “I’ll be back if they’ll have me“ #ProBowl pic.twitter.com/gcMYdE8NQp
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) January 25, 2018
Brees will technically be a free agent in March, but general manager Mickey Loomis doesn't anticipate any issues in resigning the future Hall of Famer.
"We want him to be our quarterback, and we'll get going on that at some point," Loomis said Wednesday, via the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Brees, who turned 39 on Jan. 15, has been with the Saints since 2006 and led them to a Super Bowl championship in 2009. He has thrown for at least 4,000 yards in each of his 12 seasons with the Saints, setting an NFL record for most seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards. His five seasons with at least 5,000 passing yards are also an NFL record. He is one of eight quarterbacks to throw seven touchdown passes in a single game, and the last to do so in 2015. Brees threw at least one touchdown pass in an NFL-high 54 straight games. He is less than 1,500 yards shy of moving past both Brett Favre and Peyton Manning for the most passing yards in NFL history — a mark he could reach by Week 6 of the 2018 season.
Though he is without a contract in 2018, the Saints would be on the hook for an $18 million salary cap hit if they can't strike a new deal to restructure that cap hit. Brees played for $24.25 million in 2017 and showed no signs of slowing down with 4,334 yards and 23 touchdowns to eight interceptions. He set a single-season NFL record by completing 72 percent of his passes while leading the league with 386 completions.
"He's coming back," Payton told NFL Network Thursday. "We'll get this done."