Article The Drew Brees Signing from An Historical Standpoint (1 Viewer)

[DerrickB]

It was the year 2006, and the New Orleans Saints had gotten new leadership. Sean Payton was hired to become the team’s new head coach. The new regime’s number one priority was to find a guy that can be their quarterback of the future. In previous years, Aaron Brooks was the man under center for the Black and Gold.

He had enormous potential to become one of the league’s best signal callers, but unfortunately, it never came to fruition.

The Drew Brees Signing from An Historical Standpoint

 

[saint_drago]

I understand them listing LeBron as the #1 free agent signing of all time. He came back to Cleveland and the hometown boy made good and all that. But Cleveland knew what they were getting. They were getting the best player in the world.

The Saints on the other hand took a chance on an injured QB. A QB who had been merely "good" in San Diego. Nobody could've known how well this gamble would pay off. Drew won a championship and helped make the franchise respectable. He'll own nearly every meaningful passing record when he retires. This is a no brainer.

 

[Saint Jack]

If Drew hadn’t come to the Saints, the team probably would’ve gone with another 3-5 win season and the Saints would’ve been the L.A. team.

 

[MLU]

If Drew hadn’t come to the Saints, the team probably would’ve gone with another 3-5 win season and the Saints would’ve been the L.A. team.

I was always curious what Payton could have done with AB, although I'm sure Benson wanted AB gone after that Jim Gray interview. Still, I look what Payton did with Quincy Carter and can't help but imagine he had way more tools to work with coaching Brooks.

What Drew brought to the Saints more than any one thing is his leadership, which exactly what AB most lacked.

 

[SaintStephen1]

Brooks would never have been able to master the Payton offense.

 

[AARPSaint]

Brooks would never have been able to master the Payton offense.

Or, Payton might have installed a different kind of offense with Brooks at QB. We just don't know. What we do know is that Payton tailored the offense to suit Brees's skillset. Payton might have been uncomfortable with a running QB like Brooks. He could probably deal with it now with Taysom Hill, but back then he was an inexperienced head coach.

 

[saint_drago]

Has any team gotten more bang for their buck than the Saints with Drew's first contract? His average per year on that first contract was 10 mill. He was worth at least double that leading the team to the NFC Championship, breaking passing records, and winning a Super Bowl.

 

[MLU]

Brooks would never have been able to master the Payton offense.

1) That's just a dumb statement to make.
2) Brooks had no issues with McCarthy's offense
3) Look what Payton did with Quincy Carter in Dallas. Aaron Brooks >>> Quincy Carter
4) Drew Brees is Sean Payton's offense.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

1) That's just a dumb statement to make.
2) Brooks had no issues with McCarthy's offense
3) Look what Payton did with Quincy Carter in Dallas. Aaron Brooks >>> Quincy Carter
4) Drew Brees is Sean Payton's offense.

How was that a dumb statement? Brooks wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

[MLU]

How was that a dumb statement? Brooks wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Link?

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

Link?

Remember when McCarthy has to reduce the playbook dramatically for Brooks?

 

[Zack Lee]

 

[ndcc]

Aaron Brooks:

* 4th round draft pick in the ‘99 NFL draft
* backup behind Favre in GB
* Jeff Blake went down hard; Brooks stepped up and led Saints to the playoffs & 1st playoffs win
* Brooks had one of the best efficiency seasons for a QB, racking up 24 TD’s to only 8 int’s
* A.B. was the 1st QB in NFL history to pass for 400 yds in a game AND rush for 100 yds in a game ...in the same season (it wasn't Tarkenton, Young, Archie, nor Vick).

Many of us hated his grinning, especially after a bad play. But some people do that as a nervous reaction. Overall, the guy made us proud more often than not. And if you didn’t already know, Aaron Brooks has already been enshrined in the Saints Hall of Fame.

IMO, it’s unfair to speak of his Wonderlich score, or speculate that he wouldn’t be able to pick up on CSP’s playbook. The fact remains that A.B. was an NFL starter, and performed better than most Saints QB’s who preceded him.

Brooks:
www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BrooAa00.htm

As far as comparing A.B. to Brees, it would be an exercise in futility.

 

[Merl]

I have often wondered what would have happened if Miami had signed Brees. Would Payton drafted Bush at the 2 spot or taken one of the QB's instead? Three 3 1st QB's that year were Young, Leinhart, and Cutler. Young was a head case that had a flash or two but just wasn't consistant, Leinhart was a party boy that the Cardinals have up on, and Cutler was possibly the best of the three and I think Payton could have worked with him the best though the problem he had was when he got intjured he didn't seem to care what happened and try to help the back up QB diagnose plays and help the team.

In other wordsm Saban actually helped the Saints by declining to sign Drew. Now I must go throw up for giving a pro[ to Saban the Satan!

 

[Kyle brister]

1) That's just a dumb statement to make.
2) Brooks had no issues with McCarthy's offense
3) Look what Payton did with Quincy Carter in Dallas. Aaron Brooks >>> Quincy Carter
4) Drew Brees is Sean Payton's offense.

Man, Drew Brees is special. He sees it all,disects it all, & puts every single person around him in a position to succeed. If you fail with Drew as your dancing partner. The odds are pretty good it was your bad. Drew, Tom Braddy, & Peyton Manning are a breed apart form any other QBs in NFL history. Their collective QB IQs are so off the charts they can only be measured by decades of success, championships, wins, records broken. Aaron had the physical skills, but by the time Payton got there it was too late for Brooks. his confidence was shot to hell & he had lost the fan base & ownership on top of that. Now Mahomes has the skill set to be the greatest of all time. The only question is, will he let his mental game evolve to become as awesome as his physical play is. If he does & stays healthy, it's only a function of time before he eventually pushes past all the old dudes & sets new records that the next generation will say can never be broken.