Drew Brees Thinks He Could Play Until He’s 45

The 41-year-old New Orleans Saints quarterback thinks he could play until he's 45 years old, but only looks at his future "one year at a time".

Appearing on "The Greg Hill Show" on WEEI Radio in Boston, Brees spoke openly about how he views his current playing status.

(Transcript from the above clip)

"I'm not just saying this, honestly, I'm one year at a time. If you ask me, 'How long do I think I can do this?' I think I can do this until age 45. I'm 41 right now. But there are other factors. It's not just a matter of 'Can you do it?' It's, 'What are you sacrificing in order to be able to play this game and give it the time and dedication that it deserves.'" Because, even in the offseason, there is a lot of time and dedication to this.

"And certainly once the season starts, man, it's like we just lock ourselves up and go to work. It's a lot of time away from the family. It's a lot of sacrifice there. So I think for me, it's truly one year at a time. I started really taking that approach a couple of years ago and honestly it was probably the best decision I made because we always say how 'I'm gonna play it like it's my last.' Truly three years ago, I said, 'This might be my last season, so I'm going to play it like it's my last.'

"And you know what? I've had more fun playing the game of football. I've enjoyed the locker room that much more and I've enjoyed the plane rides home that much more and we've had a ton of success that way. That's the approach I'm taking."

Brees currently holds the NFL's All-Time passing yards (77,416) and passing touchdowns (547) record.

Free-agent quarterback Tom Brady is 2,845 passing yards and 6 passing touchdowns behind Brees on the All-Time list, and no other active quarterback is close.

Brees admitted "there was a little bit" of competition with Brady in regards to holding an edge in the records, but adds he's always had a ton of respect for Brady, who he has competed against since his college days.