Yahoo Finance Saints haven't heard from Drew Brees about retirement, GM says 'We'll wait for him'
Before Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round of the playoffs, there were already reports that he was likely to retire at the end of the season, no matter how it turned out. It’s not the first time Brees has considered retirement, but after a season plagued by serious injuries and a dismal performance against the Bucs, the 42-year-old seems closer to hanging it up than ever before.
Brees may seem close to retirement, but almost two weeks after the Saints’ season ended, everyone — including the Saints — is still waiting to hear any official (or even unofficial) news about his decision.
Saints in the dark about Brees’ decision
In a call with media Wednesday, general manager Mickey Loomis revealed that the organization has yet to hear anything official from Brees about his future. It’s a position they’ve been in before.
"I don't think it's a lot different from last year. We'll wait for him," Loomis said.
Brees is the face of the Saints, so of course they’ll wait for him to make his decision before plowing ahead with any major plans. The Saints can’t wait forever, but Loomis pointed out that Brees’ status is far from the only unknown they’re dealing with right now.
“We’ve got a lot of other planning to do. There’s more unknowns right now than there are knowns, in the sense that we don’t yet know what the [salary] cap’s going to be next [season]. Even a narrow range we don’t have yet. So we’ve got a lot of planning to do, we haven’t completed our roster evaluations from last season, so at this point in time there’s more unknowns than there are knowns.”
At this point in the offseason, the Saints don’t even know what their positions of need are going to be, with or without Brees. Loomis said that they plan to start those roster evaluations next week.
Loomis doesn’t envision a Saints rebuild
Brees’ decision will likely shape the next few years of the franchise. If he retires, the Saints have a big decision. Do they rebuild or do they continue pushing to compete? Loomis was asked that question Wednesday, and he’s definitely not considering a rebuild.
“We’ve got a great roster, and I can’t foresee a circumstance where we’re not going to say ‘Man, we’re going to do everything we can to win, win now, and compete for a championship.’”
Loomis said that he can’t get into the details of how they might do that since they still have no idea how they’re going to approach this offseason, but Saints fans can feel some relief knowing that no matter what Brees decides, the team will keep reaching for that trophy.
More from Yahoo Sports:
