If you had any doubts about Drew Brees' commitment to retirement, he put them to bed Sunday evening.
Despite Jameis Winston suffering what appears to be a severe injury to his left knee in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, Brees said on Football Night in America that he doesn't plan to return to the New Orleans Saints, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Brees, 42, retired last offseason following an illustrious 20-year career, with his final 15 seasons coming as a member of the Saints. Last month, he discussed whether he had the itch to return to playing.
"No," Brees said when asked if he would ever reconsider his decision to retire. "When I made that decision, that wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment decision. The decision to retire was at least a few years in the making, just understand that time was coming. And each and every offseason, I was evaluating where I was ... what I felt like I still wanted to accomplish. There were so many factors that went into it -- family [was one].
"But that 20-year mark was always one that was a benchmark. You set these benchmarks throughout your career, but once I got to age 35 or 37 it became 'Alright, let's get to year 20 and that should be it.' Especially knowing where my kids were going to be -- my oldest, Baylen, is now in middle school -- there's so many things I want to be part of with my kids that obviously during football season you just can't be a part of because the commitment is to your team and being the quarterback and being the leader. So yeah, I would say that I'm content with spending as much time as I can with my family right now."
Listen to Saints talk now on Audacy and shop the latest Saints team gear
Brees has stepped into a pretty good gig with NBC, where he is an analyst on Football Night in America and part of the network's coverage of Notre Dame football.
Even if Brees had interest in returning, there's no indication that Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis would have gone outside the organization for a replacement to Winston, who may have suffered a season-ending injury to his left knee Sunday.
Florio reports that the Saints expect that Taysom Hill -- once compared to Hall of Famer Steve Young by Payton -- is likely to clear concussion protocol in time to start at quarterback next week against the Atlanta Falcons. Trevor Siemian, who has started 25 games in his NFL career, will be Hill's backup after relieving Winston Sunday.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram