NFL Notes: Drew Brees, Seahawks, Titans

Drew Brees

Earlier this week, Saints QB Drew Brees addressed his contract situation by saying they will worry about that after the season.

“I’m trying to put the [contract] conversation to bed just by saying … we can worry about it at the end of the year,” Brees said, via ESPN.com. “I think that’s what’s in the best interest of the team. It’s what’s in my best interest. It’s in the best interest of everybody.”

The Saints continue to do work on young quarterback prospects, but Brees would prefer to see them bring in someone who could help them win right now, as opposed to sitting on the bench.

“The flip side is if I’m gonna start and that quarterback sits, well that’s not helping our team right now [to draft a QB]. So I want somebody that’s gonna help our team right now. That’s the only difference,” Brees said.

“Listen, when I leave here I want this organization to be successful, whenever that is. So I want them to be prepared for that. They need to be thinking about that. But I don’t want to make it seem like this is my farewell tour. That’s not the way I view it. I’m just trying to stress the sense of urgency here,” said Brees.

“We’re so focused on this year, just being in the moment, not thinking about anything beyond this and taking every other year as it comes. But also we’re building something here — we are building something. I feel like we have a window of opportunity.”

Brees also reiterated that he believes he can play well into his forties.

“For the record, I was the first to say that I could play till I was 45, and that was three years ago prior to training camp. Am I right?” Brees said. “I said it just to make the point that I feel great and I love my routine, and every offseason I evaluate where I’m at, I assess what I need to do to get better, the areas I think I can tweak, things I might want to experiment with. There’s more and more information we’re able to get as far as diet and nutrition and training habits, recovery, all those things. … And I feel like I can play till 45 if I wanted to do that.

“Now I want to go out on my terms. I might play till I’m 45, but I’m not gonna sit here and sell you something that I don’t know to be the case. I just want to play at a high level. I want to help us win a championship.”

Seahawks

• Sheil Kapadia writes that while free agent addition Eddie Lacy is the favorite to be the Seahawks’ featured running back in 2017, some of the team’s other options could still carve out roles in their offense.
• There are obvious questions about Lacy’s weight and conditioning and they could monitor his workload to keep him ready for the fourth quarter of games, according to Kapadia. This could lead to Thomas Rawls having a decent role.
• Beyond that, Kapadia mentions that C.J. Prosise is “easily the best receiving weapon” on Seattle’s roster.
• Kapadia mentions that the Seahawks are likely confident enough about their offensive line and the additions of Luke Joeckel and Oday Aboushi that they won’t feel pressure to reach for an offensive lineman in the draft.
• Kapadia believes Washington CB Kevin King could make sense for Seattle at No. 26 overall unless someone like Wisconsin OT Ryan Ramczyk falls to them.

Titans

Titans HC Mike Mularkey mentioned that while they could use help at receiver, writes that the Titans are certain to draft a receiver this year, but they aren’t going to put too much of a focus on size and weight at the position.

“They come in all sizes,” Mularkey said, via Paul Kuharsky of ESPN. “We just want a guy who can get open and catch it.

“There’s really no size requirement. Jon Robinson and myself, all we’ve talked about is guys that can get open and catch it. If they are fast and big and strong, those are added values to it. We want a guy that can beat the guy across from him consistently.”

The Titans clearly need a No. 1 receiver and there’s at least a chance that one of the best available options such as Clemson’s Mike Williams, Western Michigan’s Corey Davis and Washington’s John Ross could be available to them at No. 18 overall.