Drew Brees opens up on Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints’ QB outlook
Drew Brees had competed against Jameis Winston for half a decade as dueling NFC South quarterbacks. Then the two shared a quarterback room in New Orleans last season, jack-of-all-trades Taysom Hill competing with them.
So when Brees retired from the NFL in March, he knew plenty about Winston’s career on the field and had learned over the course of a year more about who Winston was off it. Still, he didn’t expect Winston’s emotional March 23 news conference.
“That was really humbling,” Brees told USA TODAY Sports by phone Wednesday, speaking in partnership with Copper Compression. “I guess it’s not until you have a moment like that where you really understand the impact you can have on someone. And I’m so appreciative for the time I had with Jameis.”
Winston joined the Saints after five years starting for the Buccaneers, who drafted him first overall in 2015. He played just 54 regular-season snaps for New Orleans, completing 7 of 11 passes. Then, on the field for one playoff snap, Winston completed a 56-yard touchdown pass against his former team. Cameras caught a teary Brees, playing in his last NFL game, speaking to Winston as the fourth quarter waned. Winston said the moment moved him.
“That really gets me emotional,” a choked-up Winston said March 23. “Because I really love Drew Brees like I don’t think he understands. I know my wife do, I know my family do. But y’all don’t understand the impact that him and a lot of other quarterbacks have had on me.”
Brees retired as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards at 80,358 in 20 seasons. His 571 career passing touchdowns rank second behind only Tom Brady in league history. Brees won 172 regular-season games and led the Saints to the playoffs in nine seasons, winning the franchise’s lone Super Bowl title in the 2009 campaign. Since 2017, he said he has approached each season as his last.
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As he advanced through his 30s and now to 42, Brees was often the “elder statesman,” he said, and he wanted to set an example for developing players. But that example wasn’t intended to inspire a quarterback to copy identically the 13-time Pro Bowler’s game or his routine. Rather, Brees wanted younger players to adapt his skill sets to fit their own leadership and athleticism.
“At the end of the day, each one of us has our own style,” Brees said. “So that’s my advice to guys: I’ll give you everything I know. I’ll give you everything I do. And you can watch me, we can talk about it, if you ever have a question – come to me, man. I’ll give you whatever I have. Then you pick and choose the things that work for you.
“Make it your own and create your own style and be yourself.”
Brees expects the Saints offense to follow a similar blueprint in 2021. For 15 years, it was overwhelmingly catered to a cast led by Brees. Now, Saints coach Sean Payton must decide how he wants to incorporate the skills of Winston as well as those of Hill, who won three of four starts at quarterback in 2020 when Brees missed games while recovering from fractures in his ribs and a punctured lung. Hill completed 82 of 114 pass attempts for 834 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions in the four-game stretch. Since the Saints signed him in 2017, Hill has collected 1,145 yards from scrimmage and 18 rushing and receiving touchdowns on 181 touches.
Winston concluded his Bucs tenure with a league-best 5,109 passing yards in 2019, but his 33 touchdowns were marred by 30 interceptions.
“I think there’s certainly going to be a role for both those guys and I think there’s an offense you structure around both based on the things that they do best,” Brees said. “I think a lot of that is probably still to be discovered as you go through this offseason. The tough part about last year is there was no offseason, no preseason, so for a guy like Taysom who’s still a young player in the league those reps are so crucial to continue to grow evolve and improve. Those reps for Jameis in this offense to improve are so crucial. I think as they go through the offseason and preseason, we’ll see what that looks like.
“The opportunity is to build that offense around those guys.”
Brees will build his next opportunity around NBC Sports, where his responsibilities will include color analysis for Notre Dame broadcasts and studio analysis on the NFL. He’s also partnering with Copper Compression, whose recovery products he says he’s used for several years.
“My elbow was bugging me a little bit, my knee was bugging a little bit,” Brees remembered. “I started wearing it and felt like as I got warmed up to train, I felt like there was a level of comfort, a level of stability and just overall confidence in the way I was utilizing it.
“No matter what your passion is from the perspective of living an active and healthy lifestyle, this product applies to everybody. And if you’re looking to maximize your training, looking to maximize your recovery, this is a great product and one that’s worked for me.”
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.
