1) Evaluating our chances for the playoffs and monitoring the team for continued growth are not mutually exclusive exercises. There is no reason not to do both.
2) We will likely not see another Drew Brees, New England will not see another Tom Brady, at least in the foreseeable future. A healthy Brees can play for at least three more years and he remains our best chance to get back to a superbowl. All the reactionary talk that the era is over and we need to get rid of Brees and our coach is nonsense.
The one new quarterback in the last three years coming out of college who was destined to be an elite with Brady, manning, Brees and Rodgers was Andrew Luck. Luck is good, but he many never be as good as Brees has been. The draft for qb's is a crapshoot. We need to keep Brees until he is not physically able to perform at a winning level.