Drew Brees is a free agent in 2018. Here’s a crazy (but potentially amazing) scenario in which the Chiefs go older at the quarterback position in order to get better.
Your first instinct will be to laugh. Then you might even get angry.
If you throw a rock in Kansas City, you’re bound to find a Chiefs fan. If you throw another, you’ll hit a Chiefs fan with torches and pitchforks ready in case John Dorsey doesn’t take a quarterback early in this year’s draft. Given another early exit from the playoffs, a large part of the fan base is ready to see an exit strategy from the Alex Smith era, and specifically those fans are clamoring for a dynamic young player — not a guy who will be 39-years-old.
But hear me out, because I’m not just talking about any old quarterback. I’m talking about Drew Brees.
This entire column is an exercise in silly hypotheticals. It’s also null and void if the Chiefs like the value enough to pull the trigger on a quarterback in the first round. But it’s possible to argue for investment elsewhere for the Chiefs early picks. It’s also possible that John Dorsey just isn’t sold on Patrick Mahomes, for example. In which case, it might make sense to not only brace for Alex Smith’s final year as the Chiefs starter but then look for someone older the following year.
That’s when Drew Brees will be a free agent.
Brees is scheduled to hit free agency one year from now and the fireworks will go off if he’s allowed to hit the open market. That’s exactly what Brees seems intent to do.
More from Arrowhead Addict
- Multiple Chiefs execs mentioned as strong GM candidates in 2024
- Former Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las Vegas
- Chiefs Kingdom: Get ready to break contract news
- Chiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in Germany
- Podcast: Breaking down the Chiefs biggest roster battles
“Listen, so I signed a one-year extension, so that was this year and then next year,” Brees said in January. “And so I plan on playing that out and just allowing things to take form and take shape here for next year and putting forth my absolute best effort to help us win a division championship and then a world championship. And then, again, just one year at a time, and that’s not a lack of commitment or anything like that. It’s just, I just want to focus on what’s right in front of me.”
At some point, Brees will act his age. At some point, every player does. But we’re in an era of truly great quarterback play, one in which players like Brees and Tom Brady remain excellent even as they prepare to enter their forties. Brees has led the NFL in passing yards in each of the last three seasons, even as the New Orleans Saints continue to demand more of him by failing to adequately address their defense and even trading away his weapons. Few quarterbacks face more pressure to do it all (or do more with less) than Brees.
Just last year, Brees completed a league-high 471 of his league-high 673 passing attempts for a league-high 5,208 passing yards. He threw 37 touchdowns and 15 interceptions for a 101.7 passer rating. Since 2010, Brees has only missed one start out of 112, and his numbers at age 37 look just as impressive (or better) than they did at 27. In other words, Drew Brees is playing just as good as ever for a team that is honestly wasting his talents. Even with a Super Bowl title, Brees remains criminally underrated.
Imagine what a quarterback like Brees could do with weapons like Travis Kelce, Jeremy Maclin, Tyreek Hill and company (maybe Jamaal Charles?) at his disposal, with a strong offensive game plan coming from Andy Reid and his staff. Imagine Brees actually enjoying solid field position when starting an offensive drive because Dave Toub’s unit did their job. Imagine Brees’ ability to put a game away knowing his defense wasn’t going to give away all of his hard work their next time on the field.
It’s sexy to think of a quarterback acquisition that will stay with the franchise for a solid decade, one can bring the skill set described above except in a 23-year-old cost-controlled body. Unfortunately there’s no way of knowing that reality until you decide to roll the dice. Even the dice roll sounds sexy to fans, but that’s because it’s not our jobs, our livelihoods on the line. If you know for sure what a quarterback can bring, do you not go with that if it was your job hanging in the balance? It certainly changes the thought process.
The rumors persist each year in New Orleans that the Super Bowl winning band will stop playing at some point soon. Sean Payton has been rumored to coach elsewhere, and Drew Brees is getting expensive (and old) for a team largely going nowhere. They’ve settled for below-average football in New Orleans in four of the last five years, going 7-9 in each of those seasons besides an outlier of 11-5 in 2013. Of course, they’d be much, much worse if not for Brees who continues to excel despite losses along the line and targets like Jimmy Graham.
If John Dorsey is not prepared to pull the trigger on a young quarterback just yet — at least a first or second round investment — then it might be worth considering that a one- or two-year invitation to Drew Brees on the open market could add a dynamic late-career addition to serve as a short-term starter for the Chiefs. While it might not be a long-term solution, it would be a helluva fun ride for a couple years at least.