It’s become a given in league circles that 2020 will be the final season of Saints quarterback Drew Brees’ first-ballot-Hall-of-Fame career. Brees isn’t ready to give in to that line of thinking, however.
Speaking to reporters for the first time during training camp, Brees sidestepped the question of whether he’s reaching the end of the line.
“Man, I’m not looking past one day at a time,” Brees said, via Larry Holder of TheAthletic.com.
Brees also addressed one of the lingering questions about his arsenal of throws: Whether he can still throw the deep ball.
Via Holder, Brees explained that, if the opportunities are there, he’ll let it fly. If not, he’ll check down to a shorter route. He also said that he had more opportunities to throw it deep in the previous few years than recently.
While this could be a chicken-egg situation, he’s quite possibility had fewer opportunities because of the age-based erosion of his deep-ball skills. Often, Taysom Hill gets the call when the throw is going to stretch the field.
But maybe that will change in 2020. Brees said that he’s been working on the deep ball since March, and that he’s had some “moments of discovery” during the offseason.
Starting in six weeks and one day, we’ll all discover whether that means more deep balls that make it to the target from Brees, when the 41-year-old squares off against 43-year-old Tom Brady to start the season.