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Drew Brees has not officially retired from the NFL, but the New Orleans Saints sure seem prepared for the 42-year-old quarterback's departure. In an exclusive interview with Will Brinson and CBS Sports' Pick Six NFL Podcast on Wednesday, coach Sean Payton indicated that Brees' announcement on his 2021 plans will arrive "in the next week or two," then made it clear the team has a "good vision" for the QBs who spent 2020 behind Brees, saying the Saints want to re-sign Jameis Winston, presumably as a potential successor.

"I think (a decision from Brees) is coming in the next week or two," Payton said. "There's a wear and tear in these years, especially at that position. I think that's something in the next week, week and a half, he's going to address and announce. Meanwhile, we're meeting -- most teams, right, at the end of the season, you meet on your own roster. You spend a good portion of the week going through each player, talking about the season, where they're at, where they're going. We've gone through the quarterbacks. Of course we've read all of those players. Taysom Hill, who's in the building. Jameis, who's a free agent, who we hope to sign here, sooner or later. We've got a pretty good vision with those players. I think within the next week we'll know a little bit more."

The coach said as much in a separate appearance on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" on Wednesday, echoing his confidence in Winston when asked about the Saints' QB plans in the event of Brees' retirement.

"That's easy," he said. "We had a great exposure, for one year, with Jameis Winston. And, you know, we didn't have a normal offseason, but we had enough time to see what we had with him as a player, as a leader, as an athlete. I really like what we had a chance to see. He was a tremendous leader for this team, and that's hard to do when you come in new in free agency, your first year, as a backup quarterback ... A lot of times you wanna hold your cards closer to the vest, and he is a free agent, but him along with Taysom Hill, who's in the building ... we've said it all along (that they'd be options)."

Winston, 27, who spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers, appeared in four games behind Brees in 2020, once taking over for the longtime QB due to injury.