30 greatest NFL QBs of all time: Where does Patrick Mahomes rank now?

Drew Brees is the man who broke the passing efficiency record, but he did it over and over again. Brees currently owns four of the top five passing efficiency seasons on record. This is the most accurate quarterback in NFL history, and it’s not particularly close. The only player in league history with a better completion percentage than Brees is Joe Burrow, and it’s not really fair to compare the two when Brees fell off a bit at the end. The next retired player on the list is Chad Pennington, who is 1.7% below Brees’ 67.7% career mark.

It’s not as well known now, but Brees’ career could have gone completely different on multiple occasions. He was drafted in the first round by the San Diego Chargers, but it never really felt like a fit. Injuries and constant competition with veteran Doug Flutie caused Brees to never get going. To be fair to the Chargers, Brees didn’t necessarily grab the brass ring.

The writing was on the wall after the Chargers drafted Philip Rivers in 2004. The Chargers kept Brees for one more season, but he would become a free agent in 2005. He was about to sign with the Miami Dolphins, but his shoulder injury led them to Daunte Culpepper instead. Brees went on to become a Hall of Famer after he decided to sign with the New Orleans Saints.

Brees became a compiler of all the stats. That’s not a negative, either. Brees led the league in yards seven times with the Saints. He led the league in touchdowns four times. This was an offense that made the most of its weapons, and the league could not stop them. Brees went on to win Super Bowl XLIV, an important moment of hope for a city that was still devastated by Hurricane Katrina five years earlier. Brees became a hero for all of New Orleans, and his impact on the game of football proved a player is more than his size.