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Drew Brees will join NBC Sports in retirement, wreck ESPN’s dreams

By John Buhler

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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Drew Brees has decided he’ll sign on with NBC Sports once he retires instead of working for ESPN. 

Drew Brees knows exactly what he wants to do when he’s done playing football.

According to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, the New Orleans Saints quarterback will begin a broadcasting career with NBC Sports once the 41-year-old is done playing. Though he signed a two-year deal worth $50 million this offseason, it wouldn’t be the least bit shocking if the 2020 NFL season is Brees’ final year in the league.

Brees picking NBC over ESPN is a shock to the primetime football system. ESPN coveted Brees to be the lead football analyst in the Monday Night Football booth once Peyton Manning decided broadcasting wasn’t for him. ESPN knows it’s losing the primetime race badly with its current pairing of Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland. They’re fine, but not overly captivating just yet.

How could Brees be used at NBC right away and in the future?

The idea of Brees going to NBC is perhaps a deeper play than we all realize. Though he could be Cris Collinsworth‘s successor in the Sunday Night Football booth, just like Mike Tirico will be for Al Michaels in two years, Brees might end up calling games with Tirico on Saturdays as part of the Notre Dame Football on NBC as a replacement for Doug Flutie in the meantime.

Brees played his college football in Indiana at Purdue. He has national appeal and could get in some quality practice reps on air before potentially taking over the biggest broadcasting chair in the NFL on Sunday Night Football.

So what will happen to Collinsworth? Though he is in his 60s, his son Jac Collinsworth now works for NBC Sports, too. There could be an appeal to work as an in-studio analyst alongside his son. NBC could also have bigger plans in the NFL in the next television rights deals. What happens if NBC airs two nationally televised games each week? NBC could use both Brees and Collinsworth.

Overall, this is a massive get for NBC and one that will certainly help them usher in a new wave of prominence in the 2020s. As for ESPN, once again, they are left empty-handed. Where does ESPN go from here?

How does Drew Brees’ NBC Sports plans impact ESPN?

For now, it seems like they have to roll with Tessitore and McFarland at least through the 2020 NFL season. Tessitore is good at what he does and McFarland has been in a very tough spot in being forced into the big chair after the Jason Witten debacle, but he is getting better with every game he calls.

Of course, ESPN won’t want to remain NBC, CBS and FOX’s whipping boy once the new television rights deals are on the table. Marchand mentions Steve Levy is an on-the-rise play-by-play guy in the building. They also Dave Pasch and Bob Wischusen in-house who are both ready for a big opportunity.

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No, it’s not the play-by-play guy that has been ESPN’s issue, it’s the football analyst. Internally, Marchand mentions Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick and Brian Griese. Though all of whom would do fine, there is no mention of perhaps ESPN’s most captivating on-air personality in years in Pat McAfee. It’d be a home-run cut to put him on Monday Night Football, but it’s a risk worth taking.

As for external candidates, Marchand mentions Kurt Warner of the NFL Network and Westwood One and Nate Burleson of the NFL Network and CBS. Warner has been quietly killing it doing primetime games on radio. He’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players in two NFL franchises’ histories. Burleson has an innate ability to make everyone better around him.

For more outside the box potential Monday Night Football analyst candidates, well, Dan Fouts has been let go by CBS. He’s called a ton of big games, but then again, ESPN might want another former San Diego Chargers great in Philip Rivers to come up to the booth when he retires. CBS not bringing back Fouts also means ESPN has an opportunity to attack when they’re vulnerable.

CBS could pursue FOX’s Charles Davis or former NFL quarterback and brief FOX analyst Jay Cutler. The great Ian Eagle needs a partner now and it can’t be a schlub. Not with his dulcet tones. Going after Davis, Cutler or even Joel Klatt on the college side would help add credibility to the ESPN Monday Night Football booth.

Ultimately, ESPN lost another battle in the broadcasting world today. Brees has universal appeal. Even Atlanta Falcons fans like the guy, and they hate his team. Though he’s not a Dallas Cowboy, Brees is the next best thing the NFC has to offer. His relatability and versatility to do both college and pro will be a very valuable asset for NBC for some time. For ESPN, it keeps getting weirder.

Next: NFL March Madness: Who's the greatest QB?

The undefeated keeps losing and there’s no point to even keep score anymore.

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