The Saints must make final push with Drew Brees
By John Buhler
There are no excuses. This is the year the New Orleans Saints have to get it done. Otherwise, they’re not going to win another Super Bowl with Drew Brees.
2020 could not be a more critical year for Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.
The 41-year-old quarterback announced he will be back with the Saints this fall. As the greatest player in franchise history, Brees has brought stability to what was an unfathomably chaotic situation in New Orleans football post-Hurricane Katrina. Brees has become the most prolific passer in NFL history and gave the city a Super Bowl back in 2009. He’s a legend.
Essentially, Brees is Saints football. He’s what John Elway means to the Denver Broncos and what Dan Marino means to the Miami Dolphins. These are three of the 10 greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. However, Brees only has maybe a few more years to win New Orleans another Super Bowl before he retires. 2020 is the last year that window is open.
The Saints’ second Super Bowl window of the Brees/Sean Payton era opened in 2017. New Orleans has won the always competitive NFC South the last three years, but doesn’t even have a Super Bowl appearance to show for it. They have lost in the NFC Wild Card round, the NFC Divisional round and the NFC Championship in traumatic fashion the last three years.
The Minneapolis Miracle was one of the biggest gut punches you’ll ever see in sports. Not getting a pass interference call on Nickell Robey-Coleman was egregious, but you still lost at home in overtime. No, the Minnesota Vikings weren’t done breaking Who Dat Nation’s heart, thanks to a Kyle Rudolph game-winning touchdown in overtime back in January.
The Saints are running out of time.
It’s not only Brees’ age the Saints need to worry about. New Orleans only has five picks in the NFL Draft and has a bottom-five salary cap situation heading into the new league year. In short, the pathway to get better this offseason is slim. Let’s not forget Brees’ backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who went 5-0 as a starter last year, will be hitting free agency and isn’t coming back.
The other thing to consider regarding the Saints is they may no longer have a stranglehold in divisional play. The archival Atlanta Falcons embarrassed them once last year and nearly beat them a second time. Atlanta went 6-2 in the second half after getting off to a horrific 1-7 start. We have to believe the Falcons will figure things out here pretty soon. They’re too talented not to.
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While the Carolina Panthers are expected to be among the worst teams in football, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be a quarterback away from getting back into the postseason. If they land a new quarterback who doesn’t throw interceptions like they’re going out of style, Tampa Bay might be good enough to win the division. It is so critical the Saints get it done this year. They have to.