Drew Brees ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 03: Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints drops back to pass during the first half against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on January 3, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

Entering the final year of his contract, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is confident that he will be able to work out an extension soon. Brees, 37, believes he has a few good years left before hanging up the cleats, and he wants to hang them up with the Saints, with whom he has been the signal caller since 2006.

“I’ve been through that a few times, so you know that (the contract extension) will happen when it’s supposed to happen,” Brees said during a break in a Campbell’s Chunky Soup commercial shoot on Tuesday. “There’s so much that goes into an offseason — you’re signing free agents, you’re signing rookies, you’re going through the draft process. Now as we get ready for training camp, I obviously, I see myself in New Orleans for the rest of my career.”

Brees is in the final year of a five-year, $100 million contract, and while he would prefer to have an agreement prior to the start of the 2016 season, he has stated before that if one isn’t reached by the start of the season, talks would cease until the next offseason. At the same time, he assures that, whatever his contract situation, it won’t affect his performance or behavior on the field.

“Once the season rolls around, I just want to focus on football. And I handled it that way back in 2011 — the exact same way,” Brees said. “So I plan on handling it the exact same way this time around.”

The Saints are certainly in a very interesting position given their quarterback situation. At 37, Brees is certainly capable of playing at a high enough level, but the team has also gone 7-9 in three of the last four years and missed the playoffs in those corresponding seasons.

With Garrett Grayson and Luke McCown as the other quarterback options, they certainly don’t appear to have a long-term option in place right now, so it certainly appears that things will work in Brees’s favor. At this point, it’s hard to see how he wouldn’t retire in New Orleans.

[USA Today]

About Colby Lanham

Colby Lanham is a graduate of Clemson University who, in addition to writing for The Comeback, has written for SI's Campus Rush, Bleacher Report, and Clemson Athletics. He is an alumni of the 2015 Sports Journalism Institute, where he also worked as an editorial intern for MLB.com. He has interests in football, basketball, and various forms of pop culture.