The Sports Xchange

New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees said he was “shocked” when he learned about the trade of tight end Jimmy Graham to Seattle last month.

The Saints and Seahawks agreed to a blockbuster deal on March 10 that sent Graham to Seattle for center Max Unger.

“I think it shocked all of us,” Brees told WWL Radio in New Orleans on Thursday night. “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.”

Brees, making his first public comments of the offseason, said the trade is part of the business, but Graham will be missed.

“Jimmy was like a brother to me,” Brees said. “He was close to so many guys on the team. That part of it is something that people lose track of. As a football player, he’s a rare, rare talent. Not having a guy like that on the field with you is a difference-maker. Just the relationships that you build in the locker room, that’s really the part that’s the hardest, just because you’re used to being around each other and the way your families do things together. You build a relationship and you become very close. But then, things happen and all of the sudden you’re on a different team. It doesn’t change the way we feel about each other. We’re just not going to see each other all that often.”

Brees is pleased Unger was acquired by the Saints in the Graham trade.

“I was with him in Pro Bowl a few years ago and I think he’s a very good player,” Brees said. “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.”

Brees said he never took seriously the recent rumors that he might be on the trading block.

“I really did not pay attention one bit,” Brees said. “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.”

The 36-year-old Brees said he hopes to finish his career with the Saints.

“I do, absolutely,” Brees told WWL Radio. “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.”

Brees did not have his best year in 2014, when he threw 17 interceptions, but he still completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 4,952 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Brees will play his 15th NFL season in 2015, his 10th with the Saints. His contract runs through the 2016 season.