Drew Brees, Saints taking contract talks down to the wire

METAIRIE, La. -- There is still no reason to fear that Drew Brees will suddenly reverse course and decide to leave the New Orleans Saints for a bigger offer elsewhere this week.

His contract talks with the Saints are expected to pick up steam on Monday morning. And the really important deadline doesn’t come until 4 p.m. ET Wednesday.

But the two sides are cutting things a little close.

Brees’ agent, Tom Condon, can legally begin discussing his client with other teams as of noon ET Monday. And Brees will officially be free to sign with other teams on Wednesday.

Monday’s deadline isn’t that big of a deal, really. Sure, Brees might find out definitively that one or more teams are willing to throw…