After being placed on injured reserve this week, Sunday's tilt with the Atlanta Falcons marks the first of at least three games that New Orleans Saints' quarterback Drew Brees will miss. When he returns, the future Hall of Famer may very well be in the home stretch of his illustrious career.
Saturday evening, ESPN's Ed Werder reported that while Brees has 11 total rib fractures, his collapsed lung is recovering well. The hope, Brees told Werder, is that he'll be able to return for the Saints' Week 14 matchup in Philadelphia.
Sunday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter added that while the Saints are hopeful that Brees does return at some point in December, "there continues to be a widespread expectation that this will be Brees' final season."
Though he would later say it was a slip-up, head coach Sean Payton perhaps not-so-accidentally referred to 2020 as Drew Brees' final season in a March interview. What's interesting is that in Schefter's piece, he writes that the Saints actually believed that after a disappointing postseason exit last year, Brees would retire.
Brees and the Saints, of course, have Super Bowl aspirations in 2020, but his absence presents a crucial opportunity for Payton to sift through internal options as eventual successors for Brees. Taysom Hill started Sunday's matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, while Jameis Winston is backing him up. By the time Brees returns, the organization would like to have a feel for whether either is capable of starting for them next year, assuming Brees, 41, doesn't return after this season.
Hill, 30, is under contract for 2021, after agreeing to a two-year/$21 million extension before the season. Winston can become a free agent after the season, though if he feels there's a chance he could either start in Week 1 or eventually replace a struggling Hill, he may be most inclined to return to New Orleans for another season.
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