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Drew Brees is entering his 15th season in the NFL, and once a player, especially a quarterback, hits that mark, we start to talk about retirement. There was even talk about the New Orleans Saints using a high draft pick in the draft to find Brees’ replacement. Even though Brees is getting up there in age, he really hasn’t shown signs of slowing down and is still one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.
The Saints struggled last year in a really bad NFC South division. There were a few games Brees had that made some question whether his career was done. A lot of that can be attributed to the fact Brees tried to do too much to help his team and tried to make up for the other deficiencies on the team. When we look at the numbers, Brees still put up over 4,900 yards passing and 33 touchdowns. His interception numbers have consistently been in the teens throughout his career because the Saints have heavily relied on the pass so much during his tenure.
A key for Brees this upcoming training camp will be for him to find a new go-to receiver now that Jimmy Graham was traded to the Seattle Seahawks this offseason. The likely choice will be longtime receiver Marques Colston, but the Saints will need more than just Colston to help Brees out. Second-year receiver Brandin Cooks will be called upon to do more this year, but after those two, the pickings are slim. It will be crucial for Brees to be able to develop chemistry with the other pass catchers so Brees will feel comfortable going to them during a game.
Brees will get some added help with two different style running backs this year. Mark Ingram is back and showed some promise last year, something the Saints hope he can continue to build on since they drafted him with their first pick in 2011.
C.J Spiller is the new member for the Saints, and he can help provide Brees with another pass catching threat. Adding Spiller will give Brees an added extra weapon that the offense needs.
While it may have been smart for the Saints to draft Garrett Grayson in the draft and look to their future, don’t expect Brees to slow down anytime soon. The Saints are still a team capable of making the playoffs, especially with the division they play in, and Brees is the key player for the Saints to have success this year. It will be an interesting training camp for him, though, as Brees needs to learn to work with some new players and develop some quick chemistry with his new pass catchers. The Saints will continue to throw the ball a lot and Brees needs to depend on as many of his receivers as he can. All that starts with training camp and preseason.
The window is closing for the Saints to win another Super Bowl with Brees as their starting quarterback. The Saints need to concentrate on getting better in other areas this training camp and not worry about their star quarterback. He will be ready and is able to lead this team to a deep playoff run if he has a solid team around him.
