News broke this week that Drew Brees, who retired from the NFL prior to the 2021 season after 20 years in the league, that he is out at NBC after one year as a Sunday Night Football studio analyst and Notre Dame on NBC commentator.
And then, Brees himself tweeted that he hasn’t actually made a decision one way or another. In his tweet Brees said, “I’m currently undecided. I may work for NBC, I may play football again, I may focus on business and philanthropy, I may train for the pickleball tour, senior golf tour, coach my kids or all of the above. I’ll let you know.”
So could Drew Brees actually make a comeback to the NFL? Notable stars who have come out of retirement to play includes Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Brett Favre, Marshawn Lynch, among others.
On Tuesday's Locked On NFL podcast, Locked On Saints podcast host Ross Jackson and Locked On Vikings podcast host Luke Braun discussed.
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“I never say never when it comes to the NFL,” Locked On Saints host Ross Jackson said. “Tom Brady’s retirement lasted all of 47 seconds. I think this is the closest I’ve ever been to saying no, absolutely not, never when it comes to potential NFL news. You know how hard you have to push me to speak in absolutes?”
“I take it that-that news was not supposed to come out and Brees was a little peeved about it, whether it’s inaccurate or it’s premature,” Jackson said. “The one thing that everyone took from that tweet was the innocuous, ‘I might play football again.’ And now, people are seriously considering, like Seahawks fans, wanting Brees to come back to the NFL.”
Braun said he doesn't think Brees could be productive if he returned, given his injury history and play at the end of his career.
“All I can think about is 10 years ago Donovan McNabb, last year of his career, played for the Vikings and got benched for Christian Ponder,” Locked On Vikings host Luke Braun said. “Like how bad do you have to be for that. And I’m just like go coach your kids man, go play pickleball, those are great ideas.”
Jackson said he would bet more money on Brees playing pickleball than returning to the NFL.
“His wife Brittany, after he retired, took to Instagram and laid out all the injuries that guy went through in 2020 and the ridiculous amount of stuff he had to put his body through,” Jackson said.
Jackson also said with the layout of the Saints offense and wide receiver corps now, they’re not worried about yards after catch anymore, they’re concerned with air yards, meaning longer passes.
“So now you’ve built this team around Jameis Winston, but there’s some people saying if Drew Brees came back, he would be a better fit,” Jackson said. “And I just don’t see that. I don’t think that’s true.”
“I buy that he’s thinking about it," Braun said. "But, I, too would be surprised if he actually landed on that and decided to actually come back and play quarterback again. It would be wild. The world doesn’t need it.”
So if he were to come back to the NFL, who would he play for? The Saints no longer own his rights, so he could return anywhere. While many would say the obvious answer is New Orleans, Jackson reiterated that’s not a possibility.
“Let’s just entertain it for a second, there is this extra piece to it. If Drew Brees were to return, Seattle is the only place that makes sense. Because he’s not going back to New Orleans. And that’s another reason why I don’t think this happens because Drew has consistently been New Orleans or nowhere. I don’t see New Orleans saying, sorry Jameis, we’ve got Drew back.”
So long story short, don’t count on it. But, as Jackson said, this is the league where anything can happen.