Metairie, LA - The New Orleans Saints announced today that they have agreed to terms with QB Drew Brees to a five-year contract. The announcement was made by Saints' Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.
"Congratulations are in order for our organization, our city, Drew and Brittany and certainly for Mickey Loomis and his staff for all of the hard work put in to make this possible," said Owner/Chairman of the Board Tom Benson. "Now we must turn our focus to getting ready for the start of training camp and to keeping with our goal of being the first team in NFL history to host and play in a Super Bowl."
"What Drew has accomplished in his time with the Saints, he deserves to be the highest paid player in the league," said Loomis. "We are excited to have this deal done and behind us and look forward to the next five years with Drew as our quarterback."
Brees, a 6-0, 209-pound product of Purdue, was originally selected by the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft with the 32nd overall pick. The native of Austin, Texas has started 153 of the 154 games he's appeared in and completed 3,613-of-5,479 passes (65.9%) for 40,742 yards, 281 touchdown passes and a 94.0 passer rating in 11 NFL seasons. The six-time Pro Bowl selection is the league's second-most accurate passer all-time, owns the eighth-best passer rating, ranks ninth in completions and touchdown passes and 12th in passing yardage.
After originally signing with the Saints in 2006 as an unrestricted free agent, few players in the era of NFL free agency have rivaled the impact that Brees has made on the Saints since his arrival. Since 2006, he has led the NFL in virtually every passing category, while owning or sharing nearly every club passing record, three which are NFL marks, as he's completed 2,488-of-3,670 passes (67.8%) for 28,394 yards with 201 touchdown passes and a 98.5 passer rating. In addition to five Pro Bowl selections, Brees has been named the Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year twice. During this period, Brees has started 95 regular season games and eight postseason contests, never missing a contest due to injury.
With Brees as the club's signal-caller, the Saints have enjoyed unprecedented success on the field. With a 62-33 regular season record in games he's started, he has the fourth-most wins by NFL quarterbacks since 2006, the most by a Saints signal-caller. In the last six seasons, the Saints have posted five of their six playoff victories, including Super Bowl XLIV, for which he was voted the game's Most Valuable Player.
Brees will enter 2012 fresh off one of the most prolific seasons in NFL history for a quarterback. In 2011, he completed 468-of-657 passes (71.2%) for an NFL-record 5,476 yards with 46 touchdown passes and a 110.6 passer rating. The 2011 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year ranked first in the NFL in attempts, completions, passing yardage, third down passer rating (127.4), completion percentage and second in touchdown passes and passer rating. In addition to setting the league's passing yardage record that had previously stood for 27 years, he also broke the league completion percentage mark he previously owned, as well as setting records for completions and 300-yard passing games (13).
