Sean Payton Pinky Swears that the Saints Aren't Getting Rid of Drew Brees

Sean Payton sat down for an interview with Chris Myers on Fox Sports Live, and denied the idea that the Saints are exploring options for trading Drew Brees. “It’s not that time,” he said. “We stay in the now. We’re in the moment. For us, for me as a head coach, clearly it’s not that time. I’ve read this, and look, it’ll be one blogger, and the next thing you know it’s a story where ‘Hey they’re shopping.’ None of that’s taking place. We’re not interested in moving on from Drew Brees.”

With the usual caveat that we should take anything said this time of year by any NFL coach and/or front office member with a grain of salt, it wouldn’t be that outlandish of a suggestion that the Saints should consider hastening their rebuilding process if they could find a willing trade partner for Brees. Though Brees ranked 6th in Total QBR last season, he turned 36 in January, threw 17 interceptions (one behind Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers for most in the league) last year and has a massive contract.

Of course, there’s the point Payton alluded to at the end of the clip, which is that he might be ousted before Brees. Though it might be best on a five-year time horizon for the Saints to take their medicine now, it’s highly unlikely that they’d immediately find a replacement at quarterback more apt to save Payton’s job.