Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints Discussing Four-Year Contract

Drew Brees has one year left on his current deal with the New Orleans Saints, and it appears that the franchise wants to keep him around long-term. After agreeing to a five-year contract extension with head coach Sean Payton, the Saints have now turned their attention to locking Brees up, as well.

According to a report from Ed Werder of ESPN, the Saints and Brees are discussing a four-year contract extension.

#Saints continue talks with Drew Brees on 4-year extension. With QB having 1 year left, he and Payton would both be under contract 5 years

— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) March 23, 2016

Both sides appear interested in getting the deal done, and it would make sense for Brees to stick around as long as Peyton is in town. They have had a lot of success working together, and the goal is to get New Orleans back into playoff contention before leaving. New Orleans has always treated Brees right, and it is obvious that he is looking to show his loyalty to them throughout this process.

Last season with the Saints, there were rumors that Brees could be traded following the season. He was banged up, and the Saints were aging quickly with no improvement in sight. Obviously, things have changed since then, and New Orleans is looking to keep their core around for one more push.

Brees ended the season with a 68.3 completion percentage and totaled 4,870 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He missed a full game as well, which likely would have propelled him over the 5,000-yard mark.

At 37-years-old, a five-year deal would put the Saints’ quarterback at 42-years-old in his last season.

New Orleans has taken some steps to improve this offseason. Signing James Laurinaitis was a big step in the right direction, but there are many other moves that need to be made. If the Saints want to get back on track in the next couple of years, they have to focus on beefing up the rest of their defense.

There is no doubt that bringing Brees back is the right move for the Saints. They will be just fine offensively as long as he is leading the way. He makes players better around him and is still one of the top quarterbacks in the league.

Payton and Brees have come too far with the Saints to give up when the going gets tough. That is why they are signing new deals and committing to do whatever they can to help New Orleans get back on its feet.

Looking back on Brees’ career, there have been very few quarterbacks who are obviously better than him. He has completed 66.4 percent of his career pass attempts and has thrown for 60,903 yards, 428 touchdowns and 208 interceptions. Brees has always been one of the smartest quarterbacks around, and he owes a lot of his success to the Saints’ franchise.

After starting his career with the San Diego Chargers, Brees needed a breath of fresh air. Things weren’t working out all that well with the Chargers and it became obvious that they weren’t going to go out of their way to keep him around. New Orleans swooped in and put him in complete charge of their offense and gave him the necessary weapons to finally break out and show his full potential.

What could have happened if the Saints had never brought Brees in is something that we’ll never know.

It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers Brees gets if the extension gets done. New Orleans is going to take care of their quarterback and it will be a very fair deal to both sides.

Do you think Drew Brees can help get the New Orleans Saints back into contention one more time? Can he continue his playing career until his is 42-years-old?

[Photo by AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman]