"New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees echoed the words of Coach Sean Payton on Friday, saying that he too would be "beyond stunned" if he's not back in New Orleans next season. Brees is set to become an unrestricted free agent but said he hopes his agent Tom Condon and the Saints will be able to hammer out a deal sooner than later.

"Now here we are at the end of the season and it's time to pick up discussions again, obviously once we all get a chance to step away and decompress and let this season kind of settle," Brees said Friday during a conference call with the New Orleans media. "But I've had conversations with (Saints General Manager) Mickey Loomis and my agent and at some point very soon we're going continue to talk and hopefully we will get a deal done very soon."

When asked if it is important for him to get a deal done before the start of offseason workouts in June, or even before the start of the team's offseason conditioning program in late March or early April, Brees said yes."