Drew Brees is an NFL Hall of Famer. He’s already put on the gold jacket, and his bust is in Canton.
He was part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2026 alongside legends like Roger Craig, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri.
Brees last played in 2020, and he officially announced his retirement in March of 2021 after 20 tremendous years in the NFL.
He reportedly almost put off his Hall of Fame enshrinement and made a comeback to the NFL at the end of the 2025-26 season, though.
Drew Brees almost played for the Broncos
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, members of the Denver Broncos were looking into trying to pull Brees out of retirement after their lost starting quarterback, Bo Nix, to a fractured ankle ahead of the AFC Championship Game
Then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and assistant Pete Carmichael had discussions with Brees about him making a return to help the Broncos. Denver head coach Sean Payton was not involved in the conversation, and in fact, he didn’t hear about it until after the season ended.
Lombardi and Carmichael had asked Brees to work out to see how he felt before they approached Payton with the idea. Payton had coached Brees for 15 seasons when both were with the New Orleans Saints, and they won Super Bowl XLIV together alongside seven NFC South titles.
Brees did actually work out, per Schefter.
“But once he tried, Brees found discomfort in his wrist and nixed the idea that would have become one of the most improbable returns in NFL history, according to sources.”
Brees, a 13-time Pro Bowler when it actually meant something, would have been 47 at the time of the attempted comeback.
Instead, the Broncos went with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback and lost to the New England Patriots, 10-7, in Denver.
Schefter’s sources told him that this was indeed a legitimate plan by Lombardi and Carmichael.
“At a minimum, you sign [Brees], he’s 1A or 1B. And Drew’s point was: ‘I know how to win a game like that.'”
One has to wonder what would have happened had Brees attempted that comeback. Even had he helped Denver get to the Super Bowl, he likely would have been picked apart, or worse, by the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.
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