AP

Saints quarterback Drew Brees has a $30 million cap number for 2016, and a ton of leverage when it comes to the strategies for reducing it. Saints G.M. Mickey Loomis is confident that, eventually, a new deal with a more palatable cap charge for the current year is coming.

“We want Drew to be our quarterback this year, next year and the foreseeable future,” Loomis said Tuesday, via Alex Marvez of FOX Sports. “I know he feels like he’s got more years left in him. I would say we feel that way as well.”

Loomis also said “it’s not mandatory” that a new deal be executed before the start of the new league year on March 9. Still, that’s the point when the $30 million cap number kicks in, resulting in roughly 20 percent of the total spending amount being allocated to one player.

“We’ll get that worked out in a way that helps our team and obviously fits in with what he wants to do,” Loomis said.

If Brees wants to play for a competitive team, he’ll need to work with the Saints. Or maybe, alternatively, his position will be that it’s not his job to manage the team’s cap, and that his only obligation is to get paid as much as he can while he can.

It’s the American way, really. But when it comes to America’s new pastime, fans don’t like it when players do what they have to do maximize earnings.