Saints QB Brees: 'I'm not going anywhere else'

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is intent on staying put.

The former Super Bowl MVP said as much when discussing his future following a Pro Bowl practice on Thursday.

"New Orleans Saints," Brees said, via ESPN. "I'm not going anywhere else."

Brees, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in March, is optimistic about where the Saints are headed with fellow Pro Bowl selections Michael Thomas, Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara.

"I feel good about it," the 39-year-old Brees said. "I know the pieces are there, but it's the mindset coming in every year. You never start where you finish. You never start off where you finished the preseason before. You start over. You've got to re-establish your identity. You've got to come in with a growth mindset that, 'We've got to get better, and we've got to get better faster than everybody else.'"

New Orleans coach Sean Payton is confident that Brees will return to the team as well.

"He's coming back," Payton told the NFL Network. "We'll get this done."

Brees signed a five-year contract extension with the Saints in 2016, although it included an automatic void after two years -- thus making him eligible for free agency this offseason.

It is expected that he will sign another short-term deal, along the lines of the one-year contract extension he signed in September 2016 that was worth $24.25 million.

The Saints cannot place the franchise tag on Brees because of a clause in his current deal, but must agree to a new contract before March 16, when other teams would be able to deal with him.

Brees completed a career-high 72.0 percent of his passes for 4,334 yards and 23 touchdowns while leading the team to a 11-5 regular-season mark. The touchdown total, however, was his fewest since 2007.

Brees led the Saints to a 24-23 lead over the Vikings with 25 seconds left in the NFC divisional-round playoff game before Minnesota scored the winning touchdown on a 61-yard pass play with no time left.