The Saints know they want to retain Drew Brees over the long-term, but they aren't so sure about Reggie Bush. Bush is set to earn $11.8 million in 2011 and is coming off an injury-plagued 2010 campaign. He has publicly said he is willing to renegotiate his rookie contract to remain with New Orleans, which made him the No. 2 overall pick in 2006. "We've talked a lot about the position (internally) because we had a lot of injuries," said general manager Mickey Loomis. "It's pretty difficult to prognosticate injuries. I've got to be a little careful about just because a guy was hurt one year assuming he's going to get hurt the next. We're going through that evaluation process right now."

The Louisiana Superdome is getting its biggest overhaul since Hurricane Katrina tore away a lot of the roof and flooded the arena with millions of gallons of water. The 36-year-old domed stadium is America's oldest that is still called home by an NFL team. It will play host to college football's BCS Championship in 2012, the men's college basketball NCAA Final Four that year and the Superbowl in 2013. Gone will be the groundlevel oval familiar to Superbowl viewers. In comes a jazzier, new rectangular configuration. Workers are also adding thousands of larger leather seats with cupholders, new concession stands and other upgrades as part of an $85 million makeover.

Drew Brees played with a "low-grade" sprain of his MCL late this season, according to Saints head coach Sean Payton. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler sprained his MCL and had to leave the NFC Championship Game against the Packers on Sunday. Payton declined to make any comparison between the two quarterbacks Monday, saying there are multiple levels of severity to ligament injuries.

The Eagles have scheduled a Sunday meeting with Dennis Allen for their defensive coordinator job. Allen currently serves as the secondary coach for the Saints. He interviewed with Denver for the same job on Friday.

Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas both hope to return to the Saints next season. Bush is due about $11.8 million next season in the final year of his contract and figures there's little chance the Saints will bring him back at that price. "Common sense would tell you probably not," Bush said, adding that he might be willing to re-negotiate if doing so produces an extension. "We'll see what happens. We'll see what we can do and how we can make this thing work." Thomas isn't under contract for 2011. "They told me positive things, but you just have to wait and see," Thomas said. "Just like they say, 'You can talk the talk, but do you walk the walk.' "

Drew Brees, who has one year remaining on his contract, hopes to sign an extension with the Saints. "I think every player's always looking for an extension, aren't they? That goes for you guys, too," Brees told reporters. "I've got one year left (on his current contract). And discussions have been ongoing. So we'll see how it plays out." The Times-Picayune has reported that both sides are looking to reach an agreement. Brees signed a six-year, $60 million deal with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in 2006. That was later restructured to include voidable option years in 2012 and 2013. "I would definitely want this to be done sooner than later. But I also understand the process. So we'll just wait and see," said Brees, who added the "lines of communication have been open" since last year.

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has withdrawn his name from consideration for Denver's head coaching vacancy. Williams is the third candidate to spurn the Broncos. Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey canceled his interview and Jim Harbaugh left Stanford for the 49ers without granting Denver an audience last week.

The first two games of the NFL postseason set a slew of milestones for NFL television ratings. Seattle's 41-36 upset of New Orleans on NBC earned the highest preliminary rating for the early Saturday wild card game in two decades. New York's last-second 17-16 victory over Indianapolis earned the highest rating since the NFL began airing prime-time wild card games in 2002.

The Seahawks upset the defending-champion Saints 41-36 in Saturday's Wild Card playoff game. Seattle won the NFC West, but finished the season 7-9. New Orleans jumped out to a 17-7 lead, but Seattle stormed back and scored 27 points over the second and third periods. Matt Hasselbeck went 22-for-35 with 272 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. Marshawn Lynch had one of his best games as a professional with 19 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown. He iced the win for Seattle with a 67-yard scoring run with less than four minutes remaining to give the Seahawks a 41-30 lead. Drew Brees went 39-for-60 with 404 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Julius Jones rushed 15 times for 59 yards and two scores. He also lost a fumble. Seattle will play in either Atlanta or Chicago next weekend.

The Falcons earned a first-round bye, but wide receiver Roddy White is still very interested in this weekend's action. If given a choice, White says he'd rather face the Seahawks than the defending-champion Saints, the Packers or Eagles. "You really don't want to play a really consistent quarterback or anything like that," White said. "Does that answer your question?" If the Packers beat the Eagles, Atlanta will host Green Bay. The Philadelphia wins, the Falcons will play the winner of New Orleans-Seattle.