This Drew Brees stat will have Saints fans longing for the old days … maybe

When you put it like this, you get a very real sense of just how long Drew Brees’ tenure with the New Orleans Saints lasted.

If you were born on or after March 14, 2016, you have never seen the New Orleans Saints play a game without Drew Brees on their roster…until now.

On Saturday night, New Orleans will take the field against the Ravens in Baltimore for their first preseason game of the year.

Along with marking the beginning of a new season, the game will mark the transition into the post-Drew Brees era.

Joshua Benton of the Nieman Lab at Harvard broke it down like this:

It’s been a long, long time since the Saints played without Drew Brees

Before Brees signed on, Saints fans watched Todd Bouman snap the ball from under center, handing off to Antowain Smith.

Bouman started the final three games of the 2005 season after Aaron Brooks was benched. He and the Saints went 0-3 as he completed just 55.7 percent of his passes and threw seven interceptions to just two touchdowns.

What’s the lesson there? Hopefully, Saints fans enjoyed Brees while they had him because most teams don’t have that kind of stability at quarterback for that long. It’s a rare thing to not have to worry about your quarterback situation.

15 year olds in New Orleans have never known life without a future Hall of Famer leading their team.

The preseason will help the Saints figure out who will guide them forward from here. Will it be Taysom Hill or Jameis Winston? Those two currently share the top spot on the depth chart, with Trevor Siemian and rookie Ian Book filling out the remaining places.

Hill is slated to start over Winston in the preseason debut.