Drew Brees On Graham, Unger, Rumors

If you thought you were blindsided by the Jimmy Graham trade, imagine how Saints quarterback Drew Brees felt. The Pro Bowler appeared on WWL Radio in New Orleans on Thursday to discuss a number of topics, including the departure of Graham, the acquisition of Max Unger, and the trade rumors surrounding Brees himself. We grabbed some of the more interesting quotes, all via Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com…

On his reaction to the Jimmy Graham trade:

“I think it shocked all of us. A lot of crazy things happened, though, during the course of free agency for a lot of different teams. Unfortunately, you’ve been around long enough, you see some of these things happen at times. If anything it shows the confidence our organization has in the young players, especially the young skill players on offense, just feeling like those are guys that now have a chance to step up and fill a big void and fill a big role and continue to progress forward.”

On the Saints acquiring Pro Bowl offensive lineman Max Unger:

“I was with him in Pro Bowl a few years ago and I think he’s a very good player. I know he was hit by the injury bug a little bit last year. But obviously he can play at a high level. He’s still very much in the prime of his career. I feel like he’ll be a great addition to that front five.”

On how he handled the rumors regarding a possible trade:

“I really did not pay attention one bit. This is the time of year where I’m very focused on the family. People would come up to me and say, ‘I hear you’re getting traded to Tampa,’ and I’d say, ‘OK, that’s great.’ I have a close enough relationship with everyone within the Saints organization that if something was going on, I know that I would hear it from them if there was any reality to it.”

On whether he wants to finish his career in New Orleans:

“I do, absolutely. But I also understand the reality of the business and everything. You’ve got to perform and you’ve got to give them a reason to keep you around.”