It remains to be seen whether Drew Brees will play in the NFL next season, but Tiki Barber believes he absolutely should. In fact, Barber believes Brees owes it to the Saints to come back for another season.
“If you’re ready to go, it’s time to go,” Barber said on Tiki & Tierney. “But I think that Drew Brees is at a spot – and I would rarely say this about a player in the NFL because the game is so brutal and the seasons are long, painfully long, especially when you’re 40 years old. But I almost feel like he owes it to the Saints to give it one more run.”
Brees currently ranks first all-time in completion percentage (67.6 percent), passing yards (76,416), and passing touchdowns (547). He is, without question, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. But he’s also still playing at a high level, so why retire?
“He’s not physically beat up,” Barber said. “You can’t hit quarterbacks anymore. He’s been protected for the last half a decade, maybe even more. So there is no injury issue.”
Money isn’t an issue, either.
“They pay Drew Brees a ton of money, every single year,” Barber said. “Drew Brees is getting paid because he’s elite, a first-ballot Hall of Famer. So it’s not about attrition. It’s not about money.”
And it’s not about wins and losses. The Saints are 37-11 over the last three seasons.
“They’ve been right there for the last two years – three years, really,” Barber said. “So when I think about the potential excuse for Drew Brees, none of the logical ones make sense – unless he’s really tired of it. But in my mind, as I was dissecting this this weekend, he owes it to them to go back and give it one more shot – because they are so close.”