A bizarre quarterback rumor made the rounds just as the Broncos were getting set to open the season at Arrowhead, and it had a name nobody expected to hear in that conversation: Drew Brees.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Denver briefly explored the idea of bringing Brees out of retirement after Bo Nix suffered a fractured ankle in the Broncos’ overtime playoff win over the Buffalo Bills. That injury, Schefter reported, led Denver’s then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael to discuss whether the former Saints star could be ready for the AFC Championship Game.
"After the Denver Broncos lost starting quarterback Bo Nix to a fractured ankle in their overtime playoff victory against the Buffalo Bills, Denver's then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael had discussions with Brees about the former star quarterback coming out of retirement to be ready for the AFC Championship Game, sources told ESPN," Schefter wrote.
The idea never got very far. Brees decided after working out that his wrist was bothering him too much to continue pursuing the comeback.
Even if the comeback had gone further, it would have run into a bigger problem: it wouldn’t have been legal. Brees was still on the New Orleans Saints’ reserve-retired list, which would have required the Saints to release him first. Tampering questions could have followed, too.
Still, the rumor was enough to spark a few wild hypotheticals. Brees last played in 2020, and by then he was no longer driving the ball downfield the way he once did.
He finished with 4.8 intended air yards per pass attempt, a sharp drop from the old version of Brees. The arm talent that once defined him had faded, and the wear and tear showed in his shoulder and arm, along with multiple rib fractures and a collapsed lung.
That’s why the whole thing felt so strange in Denver. Brees would have been a last-ditch answer, but Sean Payton wasn’t operating from desperation. The rumor landed as one of those odd, divisive football stories that immediately gets people talking.
It also doesn’t do much for Jarrett Stidham, who would not have enjoyed seeing his name pushed aside for a 47-year-old Hall of Famer. The Colts only turned to Philip Rivers at 44 because they were down Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard.
Stidham, by contrast, was healthy enough to play, even though he never got a snap during the 2025 season. Nix had been an iron man until the worst possible moment.
Once Nix was lost for the year, the AFC Championship became a much harder road for Mike Macdonald’s team on the way to a title.
The Seahawks and Rams had already learned the Patriots would be the Super Bowl opponent before their instant classic at Lumen Field.
And if Denver had somehow been the other team in that matchup, there’s a good chance the result would have looked a lot like what New England did to Drake Maye. The Broncos’ pass protection was much better than the Patriots’, but Stidham didn’t have Maye’s feel in the pocket.
Maye threw two interceptions and still came close to 300 passing yards. Stidham probably wouldn’t have reached that level.
For the 12s, the only real what-if is Nix’s injury itself. Brees, in the end, was not going to change the outcome.
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