Could the Broncos wind up in trouble over a Drew Brees reunion that never happened? That’s the question hanging over a strange little footnote to Denver’s playoff run.
Sean Payton tried to cool the whole thing down on Tuesday, saying the chatter around a possible comeback for his former Saints quarterback didn’t amount to much. But there’s a wrinkle here: Brees was still under the Saints’ control, and any contact tied to a possible move could invite a look from the NFL.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Brees briefly thought about stepping in to help replace Bo Nix for the AFC championship game before deciding his arm was too worn down. Brees also told longtime NFL insider Ed Werder that his former coaches Joe Lombari and Pete Carmichael, now with Denver, had reached out to him. Payton told Broncos reporters that he saw it differently.
“Drew had reached out, I think, right after the championship or right after the playoff win against Buffalo. I think he called Pete, probably texted Pete or Joe, those guys.
None of it even came to my attention. So, when the story came up in Canton, I kept thinking they were just talking about the COVID season.
Even in the COVID season when he and I discussed possibly coming back for a Monday night game, he had trouble throwing it. So, I don’t think really anything really came of it.
I think in Drew’s mind, there’s that competitor in him. So, I was kind of out of the loop.
I don’t think it’s a big story, but nonetheless, certainly one that once they described it to me, it just never got to my level, I guess. He had reached out to Pete, I think, and then Joe.”
Werder also reported that, with the trade deadline already gone, the thinking was that Brees or Payton could have tried to get Mickey Loomis to release Brees’ rights so he could join Denver in January if his arm had held up. It didn’t, and he didn’t, but the possibility of that contact still leaves open the chance of an NFL tampering investigation.
Whether Brees made the first move or the Broncos’ side did, that may not be the part the league cares about. The question is whether there was contact at all, and if so, what the NFL decides to do with it.
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