What to do with Drew Brees? (1 Viewer)

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Only because I like to stir the pot. :) We haven't had a good..."what are we going to do with life after Drew Brees" post in a while. I remember about 4-5 years ago, they seemed to be a pretty frequent occurrence. Perhaps when Brees didn't drop off like everyone projected (and historically there was a ton of evidence that he probably should have), people eventually gave up. I think that most Saints fans are now playing it just as Brees and the Saints organization are playing it...year to year. If we have him, great. But I think that everyone is pretty much over trying to speculate his drop off and time his replacement...and maybe a large part of that is the team's success over the past few years, especially with have late 1st round picks every year.

But with that said...yes, Brees will not always be a Saint. It's sad to think about...but one day we will enter the season with someone else under QB, and I'm sure that will probably be the most depressing season as a Saints fan. So, when should we begin to plan for the future? I don't think that Bridgewater is the guy, and I don't think that Hill is best utilized as a primary QB. I don't think that Brees's replacement is currently in the building. And that is fine. At this point, I think that it's the best interest for all parties for Brees to go out on his own terms. I trust that Brees will know when his time is up. It could very well be a "year to late" with a bad offensive season with Brees under center...but that's also ok. Brees's legacy is too important and his connection to the Saints post-playing days are too important.

It brings up a good question. What would have happened if the Chiefs DIDN'T trade up and Lattimore wouldn't have been there to select. Patrick Mahomes would likely have been on the board for the Saints to select. Would you have selected him in hindsight? The upside is that Mahomes is on track to be one of the great QBs in NFL history. The downside is that you have Drew Brees, a local legend, a guy who gave me some of the best moments of my very fulfilling life, still playing well for a half decade after the selection. Do you get rid of Brees to work toward the future? I love Mahomes, but man, a part of me is excited that we didn't have that opportunity because it would have been a heartbreaking decision.
 
Well it is going to happen and no doubt it is on everyone's mind, including Brees, coaches and of course fans. But my thing is we will deal with it when the time comes. With Mahomes, there was little doubt we would of drafted him. The coach like him a lot. If he was drafted, the landscape of this team would be totally different right now. I don't know long term, but we wouldn't have enjoy these past 2 or 3 season. The culture has charged and players and coaches are like families now. You see guys getting cut or not signed back were really sad for both side. No one wanted to leave the organizations. Mahomes is a done deal already. No need to dwell on the What If scenerio. The good question would be is what we need to do with Bridgewater and Hill. Do we go we with them or draft our successor next season?
 
I think it’s very clear we already have that covered. Taysom Bridgewater May never be Drew Brees but he shows that we will have something to be excited about watching anyway.
 
Only because I like to stir the pot. :) We haven't had a good..."what are we going to do with life after Drew Brees" post in a while. I remember about 4-5 years ago, they seemed to be a pretty frequent occurrence. Perhaps when Brees didn't drop off like everyone projected (and historically there was a ton of evidence that he probably should have), people eventually gave up. I think that most Saints fans are now playing it just as Brees and the Saints organization are playing it...year to year. If we have him, great. But I think that everyone is pretty much over trying to speculate his drop off and time his replacement...and maybe a large part of that is the team's success over the past few years, especially with have late 1st round picks every year.

But with that said...yes, Brees will not always be a Saint. It's sad to think about...but one day we will enter the season with someone else under QB, and I'm sure that will probably be the most depressing season as a Saints fan. So, when should we begin to plan for the future? I don't think that Bridgewater is the guy, and I don't think that Hill is best utilized as a primary QB. I don't think that Brees's replacement is currently in the building. And that is fine. At this point, I think that it's the best interest for all parties for Brees to go out on his own terms. I trust that Brees will know when his time is up. It could very well be a "year to late" with a bad offensive season with Brees under center...but that's also ok. Brees's legacy is too important and his connection to the Saints post-playing days are too important.

It brings up a good question. What would have happened if the Chiefs DIDN'T trade up and Lattimore wouldn't have been there to select. Patrick Mahomes would likely have been on the board for the Saints to select. Would you have selected him in hindsight? The upside is that Mahomes is on track to be one of the great QBs in NFL history. The downside is that you have Drew Brees, a local legend, a guy who gave me some of the best moments of my very fulfilling life, still playing well for a half decade after the selection. Do you get rid of Brees to work toward the future? I love Mahomes, but man, a part of me is excited that we didn't have that opportunity because it would have been a heartbreaking decision.

Unfortunately you gracefully show Drew the Door at the end of this Season and Mahomes takes over. Arguably the end of last season with his last 3-4 games as evidence of why. You likely aren't right as we can see now but that's how the business works.

In the current predicament...you let him play as long as he wants to.
 
I’m of the mindset of as long as #12 in the North is playing, #9 in the south will try to keep it going as well.
 
Well, we have T. Hill to fill in when needed, and hopefully for a long time, but in the mean time, we can only hope that whoever may be on the #2 spot at QB is as tough as Brees,
 
I think people are too often stuck in the past thinking about how certain players drop off. The training techniques that are used today weren’t in existence 5 years ago in many cases. If you look at the way Drew and Kamara train it isn’t a conventional form that you and I might use. Drew may indeed play until he’s 45 as he once said.
 
I remember thinking that the Chiefs did us a favor, but that was because I didn't believe in Mahomes and that pick was a reach. It's an understatement to say I totally whiffed on that one. Mahomes is beyond impressive, so far. But, in another sense, the Chiefs did do us a favor in that we don't have the situation OP Sammy pointed out. Brees is still elite and, of course, there's the sentimental factor.
 
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I'm not looking forward to Drew's retirement, it will feel weird. It will be interesting to see how Payton handles the new guy when the real bullets are flying (not preseason). Hope it's not like his trying times with kickers. He seems to really like both Bridgewater and Hill so maybe those two do stick around and battle it out.
 

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