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Saints season preview: With Drew Brees still a force, it's time to find out whether the renovations around him pay off
By Joel Erickson -- Advocate
Drew Brees is something of a relic these days.
Not in terms of his playing ability. Brees, now 37, can still conjure plenty of magic, enough to keep Sean Payton's passing game at the top of the NFL and carry the New Orleans Saints on some Sundays.
But when Brees looks around the locker room these days, it's obvious he's one of the few faces left from the franchise's greatest accomplishment: winning Super Bowl XLIV. For the better part of the past few years, experts around the league have speculated about the end of the Brees era; more than a few have predicted the Saints are on the cusp of tearing everything down and turning the page.
What those experts have missed is that the Saints' renovation around Brees already has taken place. The power trio of Brees, Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis remains, but, aside from Brees, right tackle Zach Strief, punter Thomas Morstead and safety Roman Harper are the only Saints left from that 2009 team — and Harper is on his second stint, back in New Orleans after two seasons with Carolina. Beyond those four, this is a team that has been entirely rebuilt, particularly since a disappointing campaign in 2014.
"I was told that if I played long enough in this league, I would probably play on four or five different teams," Brees said. "That’s the truth. It’s like, every four years, it’s a different team."
MORE -- Advocate
Saints season preview: With Drew Brees still a force, it's time to find out whether the renovations around him pay off
By Joel Erickson -- Advocate
Drew Brees is something of a relic these days.
Not in terms of his playing ability. Brees, now 37, can still conjure plenty of magic, enough to keep Sean Payton's passing game at the top of the NFL and carry the New Orleans Saints on some Sundays.
But when Brees looks around the locker room these days, it's obvious he's one of the few faces left from the franchise's greatest accomplishment: winning Super Bowl XLIV. For the better part of the past few years, experts around the league have speculated about the end of the Brees era; more than a few have predicted the Saints are on the cusp of tearing everything down and turning the page.
What those experts have missed is that the Saints' renovation around Brees already has taken place. The power trio of Brees, Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis remains, but, aside from Brees, right tackle Zach Strief, punter Thomas Morstead and safety Roman Harper are the only Saints left from that 2009 team — and Harper is on his second stint, back in New Orleans after two seasons with Carolina. Beyond those four, this is a team that has been entirely rebuilt, particularly since a disappointing campaign in 2014.
"I was told that if I played long enough in this league, I would probably play on four or five different teams," Brees said. "That’s the truth. It’s like, every four years, it’s a different team."
MORE -- Advocate
