PHOENIX -- It's time to bury those Drew Brees trade rumors deep below the earth.
It's not happening, according to New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, who called the recent chatter about shopping the veteran quarterback nothing more than hot air.
"You can't control it," Payton said Wednesday at the NFL Annual Meeting. "What do you do when there's no truth to any of it? There's not one iota. So, if someone's written something like that, then it's either been taken out of context completely or just fabricated. I think we're in an age where we're seeing a lot of speculative reporting as opposed to a story."
The Brees rumors caught fire after the Saints traded Jimmy Graham to Seattle in what initially looked like the opening notes of a complete roster overhaul. What we've learned since, though, is that New Orleans is simply going through a metamorphosis on offense, transforming from a pass-happy attack into a ground-control scheme that stands to actually help the 36-year-old Brees. Payton told us that he speaks with his quarterback every week and assured Brees he's going nowhere.
"There's no truth to any of that," Payton said. "He's a part of where we're going and we've got a number of areas we've got to improve on, but his production and where we've been able to finish offensively, those things will take care of themselves."
Payton said the team would "go nuts" trying to address all the "speculation," adding: "I saw where we were going to trade him to the Jets? From like a New York writer. So you just wad that up and throw it in the garbage and hopefully that won't come across your eyes again."
The Brees gossip was juicy, but the Saints have us convinced they haven't given up on their Super Bowl window -- or their superstar passer.
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