It almost goes without saying that Drew Brees will have plenty of career options when his time in the NFL is finished. The longtime New Orleans Saints quarterback has been an active investor in recent years, though it’s unlikely his day as a dishwasher at a sports bar for “Undercover Boss” endeared him to that career path.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that Brees was recently approached by a non-ESPN network to gauge his interest in TV game analysis. While Brees has not yet confirmed whether he’ll continue playing — his Saints contract voids in March — Schefter’s report adds that Brees will not be making any decisions about his future employment status until he’s settled on whether he’ll continue playing.
It makes sense that the NFL’s broadcast partners would take an interest in Brees. Given the recent success of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in the broadcast booth, maybe they envision Brees as a similarly-successful addition.
What’s curious is that Brees has not shown much interest himself in doing this kind of work. Unlike contemporaries such as Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen or Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Brees has not taken on guest spots during game broadcasts or preview shows, so he’s largely an unknown quantity. Great as he is at spinning a football, it’s possible he isn’t as impressive in calling games live on air.
But this all hinges on Brees’ decision. It could come as soon as this week — Saints coach Sean Payton conveniently joined the ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown crew as a guest analyst and offered his take on the situation, repeating his previous take that he doesn’t think Brees is ready to quit playing just yet. Payton said that he expects to hear from Brees in the coming days, possibly ahead of the quarterback’s 41st birthday on Wednesday. So this is a situation well worth monitoring.
