Saints’ Brees on contract situation: ‘I’m not worrying about it one shred’

Contract issue? What contract issue?
Drew Brees has better things to think about while going through offseason workouts with the New Orleans Saints than his long-term future with the team.

“I’m not worrying about it one shred,” the quarterback told Bob Papa and Mike Nolan on the Opening Drive Wednesday. “I mean, my mind is so focused on this offseason and this minicamp, and then it’ll be preparation going into this training camp. The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a one-year contract or a 10-year contract. You’ve got to prove it every year, so my mindset, my inspiration, motivation does not change one shred based upon what my contract looks like.
“I understand that I’ve got to prove it each and every year. The minute I can’t get the job done better than somebody else, they should ship me out of here. … Would I love a long-term contract, a long-term commitment? Yeah, absolutely. But I’m really not concerned with it right now.”

“The minute I can’t get the job done better than somebody else, they should ship me out of here.”

Brees’ primary focus is on working with two of the new targets he has in free-agent tight end Coby Fleener, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts, and wide receiver Michael Thomas, a second-round draft pick from Ohio State. The quarterback has been impressed with that he has seen from both so far.
“They bring a great element,” Brees said. “We played the AFC South last year, so I feel like last year, in particular, I got to see a ton of film on (Fleener) and he jumps off the film as being a guy that, at times, it doesn’t look like he’s moving that fast and yet he is getting separation and he’s pulling away from guys. And he’s got some niftiness to him that’s pretty unique at the tight end position. Obviously, he played for a great quarterback in Andrew Luck there in Indianapolis. He’s used to being in a high-functioning system like that and having a big roll, so obviously we love our tight ends down here, so I think he’ll be a great fit.

“Michael Thomas … I’ve really enjoyed working with him over the last few weeks. He loves to compete. There’s so many nuances to our offense and things that it just takes time and it takes repetitions (to understand), so what you see on the blackboard or in the playbook is not usually the way that it happens in the game. And, depending on the (defensive) look, there could be a couple of different variations to how you’re going to run that route or the way that you’re going to feel that or the timing of it. And a mistake might be made on the field and you tell him one time and corrects the mistake.”

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