Drew Brees has made it clear he'll either play for the New Orleans Saints or retire, but he isn't in a rush to make a decision.

"I'm really waiting until football is totally done," Brees said. "Obviously being here, I'm just very much focused on my family and this opportunity to be around the guys, playing the game.

"Then, I'll kind of lay low for a little bit, get away and then assess. I kind of have a process in mind. And I'll give it a month or so."

Mickey Loomis has said that the Saints want Brees to continue playing.

Russell Wilson was chosen as the starting quarterback for the NFC in the Pro Bowl, but asked Drew Brees to start in his place.

"Drew means the world to me," Wilson said. "I respect the game, and he does it better than anybody else."

Wilson has been named to six Pro Bowls. Brees has earned 13 appearances.

The New Orleans Saints are attempting to block the release of hundreds of emails allegedly showing team executives doing public relations damage control for the Roman Catholic archdiocese in the area to help contain the fallout of its sexual abuse crisis.

"Obviously, the Saints should not be in the business of assisting the Archdiocese, and the Saints' public relations team is not in the business of managing the public relations of criminals engaged in pedophilia," the attorneys wrote in a court filing. "The Saints realize that if the documents at issue are made public, this professional sports organization also will be smearing itself."

In a statement Friday, the Saints said they are not trying to conceal information but rather have "requested the court to apply the normal rules of civil discovery to the documents that the Saints produced" and noted they would become public if admitted into evidence at a trial or hearing.

Gayle Benson has given millions of dollars to Catholic institutions in the New Orleans area, and the archbishop is a regular guest of hers at games and at charitable events for the church.

Drew Brees isn't in a hurry to decide if he'll return for a 20th season and the New Orleans Saints will be patient with the quarterback.

Mickey Loomis said the Saints "obviously" want Brees back.

The quarterback is set to be an unrestricted free agent.

"I wanted to give it at least a few weeks, months, postseason, just to take a deep breath and decompress a little bit and get some time with the family and then just reassess," he said.

In addition to Brees, Teddy Bridgewater will be an unrestricted free agent and Taysom Hill will be restricted.

"We'd love to have Drew back, and if he wants to be back then we'll go from there. I'm assuming that he does," Loomis said. "I don't think it's any different than it's been the last few years.

"It's easy to take him for granted, yet I don't take him for granted. I don't view it any different than I did a year ago, or a year before that, or a year before that -- regardless of whether he has a contract or not. Yeah, he's a great player, he's been a great player, he continues to be a great player."

Steve Gleason has become the first former NFL player to receive a Congressional Gold Medal -- the highest honor that Congress can bestow on a civilian.

Gleason was recognized for his crusading work as an advocate for people with ALS.

The former special teams standout and his foundation were the driving force behind The Steve Gleason Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2015 to make critical technology available to patients through Medicare and Medicaid.

Michael Thomas revealed he played the NFC Wild Card game against the Minnesota Vikings with a broken hand.

Thomas first appeared to have a hand injury when it was wrapped following Week 16. Thomas appeared on the injury report with a hand injury before the final two games he played.

Thomas set an NFL record with 149 catches this season.

Y’all talked all that 💩 I don’t think anyone got more than 1 catch. I had 7 with a broken hand I don’t want to hear it 😂

— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) January 12, 2020

The New Orleans Saints claimed Janoris Jenkins off waivers towards the end of the regular season.

They also picked up the option of bringing Jenkins back for the 2020 season on a deal that will pay him up to $11.25 million in salary and bonuses.

The Saints could also try to extend Jenkins, who wants to remain with the team.

"That's my plan," Jenkins said. "I'd love to see that. Business is business. They control what goes on. I'm just happy to be here and hope I can stay."

Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints have a difficult decision to make at quarterback this offseason as Drew Brees comes off a two-year, $50 million contract and is beginning to look more like his age.

The Saints also have Taysom Hill and Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback.

Bridgewater was 5-0 in place of Brees this season, while Hill has emerged as a unique talent.

"Wouldn't come as a total shock to see Sean Payton move forward with Taysom Hill as the starting QB," one NFC exec said. "Sean always has been intrigued by athletic quarterbacks and how to utilize them. Taysom is a talented guy."

NFL officials decided both on the field and after reviewing the replay that there was not enough contact to charge Kyle Rudolph with offensive pass interference after there appeared to be some hand-fighting with P.J. Williams on his game-winning 4-yard touchdown catch in overtime of the Minnesota Vikings' 26-20 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

"There is contact by both players, but none of that contact rises to the level of a foul," said the NFL's senior vice president of officiating, Al Riveron, who briefly reviewed the play from the league's command center in New York. "This is consistent with what we've done all year long -- we left the ruling on the field. We let it stand."

The replay review process was completed so quickly that some Saints players didn't realize it had been reviewed.

When asked by a designated pool reporter if the decision was "obviously clear enough" for the replay process to be completed so quickly, Riveron said, "Yes, Fox was great. They gave us every angle that they had pertaining to the play. So we're very comfortable with what we saw. Nothing came through afterward that we had not seen prior to making the ruling."

Antonio Brown said during an Instagram video this week that he thinks his workout with the New Orleans Saints was a "publicity stunt."

The Saints brought the wide receiver in for a workout last Friday. It was his first visit with a team since the New England Patriots released him on Sept. 20.

It's unclear when Brown will be eligible to play again since he is still being investigated by the NFL under its personal conduct policy for allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.

"I really am at peace. I just don't like the lack of respect in the world," Brown said in the video. "Everyone has deadlines, but I guess the NFL don't have a deadline for me. So I appreciate [Saints coach] Sean Payton and them guys for supporting me to bring me out to work out. But I think it was a publicity stunt for them. Sean Payton knows the feeling of being left behind.

"But it is what it is. ... I'm not gonna make excuses. I'm just gonna keep competing to be the difference, 'cuz I know I'm the difference."