Tag: career

Report: Drew Brees to join NBC in broadcasting role, post-retirement

Saints quarterback Drew Brees is planning to sign with NBC for his post-NFL retirement career, starting off as a Notre Dame analyst.

It hasn’t taken long for New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees to set up the next stage of his career. The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reported Friday that Brees chose to sign with NBC after weighing an offer from ESPN, putting him in line as a possible replacement for Cris Collinsworth in the future.

However, NBC won’t just be throwing Brees into the booth once he’s hung up his cleats. The goal is for him to start off as an analyst for NBC’s weekly Notre Dame games while joining their Sunday night “Football Night in America” panels, reviewing the latest NFL action. That should give Brees time to get up to speed and prepare for a more prominent role in the network’s NFL coverage. If all goes according to plan, NFL fans could be hearing Brees and Mike Tirico (replacing Al Michaels) calling “Sunday Night Football” games in just a few years.

While Brees signed a two-year contract extension with the Saints earlier this season, only his first-year salary is guaranteed. He could retire after the 2020 season and leave just over $22 million in dead money on the 2021 Saints salary cap, or choose to play out the life of this deal and count for nearly $36 million next season. He certainly won’t be lacking for opportunities, whether he plays football again past 2020 or not.

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Report: Tom Brady expected to join Buccaneers, play Saints twice in 2020

The Buccaneers are expected to sign Patriots free agent Tom Brady, bringing him in conflict with the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees.

Here’s something like big news: New England Patriots free agent Tom Brady is expected to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the new league year begins on Wednesday, March 18 at 3 p.m. CT. ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington first reported the development. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added that Brady has an agreement in principle with the Buccaneers worth roughly $30 million per year.

That puts the quarterback on a twice-a-year collision course with another Hall of Fame-worthy passer in New Orleans Saints living legend Drew Brees. Brees and Brady have played against each other just five times, with Brees winning the first three matchups (twice with the then-San Diego Chargers) and Brady claiming the latest two games. Here’s the Brees versus Brady series history:

  • 2002, Week 4: Chargers 21, Patriots 14
  • 2005, Week 4: Chargers 41, Patriots 17
  • 2009, Week 12: Saints 38, Patriots 17
  • 2013, Week 6: Patriots 30, Saints 27
  • 2017, Week 2: Patriots 36, Saints 20

So Brady will be looking to even the score, and maybe even take the lead in his all-time competition with Brees. It’ll be fascinating to see how Brady adapts to life in Bruce Arians’ high-flying offense after a noticable, yearslong decline in his arm strength, but he’ll have great help around with wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and tight ends Cameron Brate and  O.J. Howard.

But it’s important to remember: whoever the Buccaneers surround Brady with, the Saints will be prepared for them.

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Former Saints running back Darren Sproles hired for Eagles consulting job

The Philadelphia Eagles hired retired NFL running back Darren Sproles, formerly of the Saints and Chargers, as a personnel consultant.

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Here’s a new career turn for Darren Sproles, the former New Orleans Saints running back. While 2019 was his last season as a player, having ended his career with the Philadelphia Eagles (who acquired him in a trade with the Saints back in 2014), the Eagles announced Friday that Sproles is one of many new additions to their organization. In fact, he’s one of several former Eagles players to join the front office.

Sproles will continue to work with the Eagles as a personnel consultant, along with his former teammate Brent Celek. While they will both work in the personnel department, former Eagles pass rusher Connor Barwin was also hired as special assistant to general manager Howie Roseman.

It’s not that surprising to see Sproles hang around with a team he’s grown loyal to. The 36-year-old appeared in 63 games for Philadelphia, including the playoffs, which is more than he played with the Saints (48). He also started his career with the then-San Diego Chargers, playing 84 games on the West Coast before following Drew Brees to New Orleans as an unrestricted free agent in 2011. He ended his career with the fifth-most yards from scrimmage in NFL history.

Now he’ll get to help scout the next generation of NFL stars. As a personnel consultant, he’ll probably be working as a part-time scout by evaluating game film of college prospects or pending free agents from around the league. Working as a consultant rather than a full-time area scout will be a great way for him to gain experience and help decide the next step in his career. Hopefully he doesn’t end up helping the Eagles pick a player the Saints coveted.

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Report: Drew Brees approached about TV analyst position

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has drawn interest by the NFL’s TV broadcast partners, but he may not be finished playing just yet

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It almost goes without saying that Drew Brees will have plenty of career options when his time in the NFL is finished. The longtime New Orleans Saints quarterback has been an active investor in recent years, though it’s unlikely his day as a dishwasher at a sports bar for “Undercover Boss” endeared him to that career path.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that Brees was recently approached by a non-ESPN network to gauge his interest in TV game analysis. While Brees has not yet confirmed whether he’ll continue playing — his Saints contract voids in March — Schefter’s report adds that Brees will not be making any decisions about his future employment status until he’s settled on whether he’ll continue playing.

It makes sense that the NFL’s broadcast partners would take an interest in Brees. Given the recent success of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in the broadcast booth, maybe they envision Brees as a similarly-successful addition.

What’s curious is that Brees has not shown much interest himself in doing this kind of work. Unlike contemporaries such as Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen or Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Brees has not taken on guest spots during game broadcasts or preview shows, so he’s largely an unknown quantity. Great as he is at spinning a football, it’s possible he isn’t as impressive in calling games live on air.

But this all hinges on Brees’ decision. It could come as soon as this week — Saints coach Sean Payton conveniently joined the ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown crew as a guest analyst and offered his take on the situation, repeating his previous take that he doesn’t think Brees is ready to quit playing just yet. Payton said that he expects to hear from Brees in the coming days, possibly ahead of the quarterback’s 41st birthday on Wednesday. So this is a situation well worth monitoring.

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Sean Payton talks up Jared Cook, ‘I love to see how he’s playing right now’

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton spoke highly of tight end Jared Cook, who has set career highs in yards per catch and touchdown catches

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There aren’t many New Orleans Saints players who have had a stronger December than veteran tight end Jared Cook. In his last four games, Cook caught 11 of his 12 targets to gain 246 receiving yards and score five touchdowns, averaging 61.5 yards per game and a mind-boggling 22.4 yards per catch. That’s as strong a month as anyone has had.

Cook has played 11 seasons in the NFL. He was limited to 14 games in his first year with the Saints (his lowest total since 2016), but his 705 receiving yards were the third-highest of his career. His 16.4 yards per catch on the year are a personal-best, as are his 9 touchdown catches. His 66.2% catch rate is the second-best he’s ever posted (trailing last year’s 67.3%). And Drew Brees was sidelined for five of those games. Together, they’ve been lethal.

And Saints coach Sean Payton is aware of that. He spoke highly of Cook after Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers, saying, “He made a heck of a catch today. He’s got a big catch radius. I love to see how he’s playing right now. Last week he had a significant game and a few weeks back prior to going out of the game he already had two touchdowns, so he’s a big part of what we do.”

If Cook can remain healthy — he’s missed time with an ankle injury and a concussion this season — he and Brees might be too strong of a duo to stop, especially in the playoffs. It’s interesting that Cook has only been targeted a dozen times in his last four games; it suggests the Saints are either not dialing up a ton of looks for him, or may be purposefully limiting the number of plays opponents will have to work with in the postseason.

There’s absolutely a situation where Cook gets ten or more designed targets in a playoff matchup, with the Saints planning specifically for him to break out in their biggest game of the year. And that’s an element of the Saints offense that may catch teams by surprise. Payton might be counting on it.

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Best Moments of Cedric Benson’s Career

Today would have been the birthday of Cedric Benson. To celebrate him, we are going to look at his best moments as a player at Texas.

Today would have been the 37th birthday of the late Cedric Benson. One of the greatest Longhorns to ever put on the uniform, Benson passed away earlier this season in a motorcycle accident.

To celebrate him, we are going to look at some of his best moments as a player at Texas. Not only is he considered a Longhorn great, but he is one of the best to ever do it in the history of the Big 12 conference.

A four-year starter, he was the main running back for the Longhorns the second he stepped on campus. Never rushing for less than 1,000 yards in a season, he reached as high as 21 touchdowns in 2003. His best season came in 2004 though, as he won the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s top running back.

Here are the best moments of Cedric Benson’s Longhorn career:

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Drew Brees makes NFL history, sets new record for career touchdown passes

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees surpassed both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to set a new NFL record for career touchdown passes.

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Drew Brees needed three touchdowns to reset the NFL’s record for career scoring passes, and he got them on Monday night against the Indianapolis Colts. It initially looked like he would have gotten it done in just a half of football, but a weak offensive pass interference penalty on wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith wiped out the would-be scoring play.

But Brees wasn’t going to let that sort of shortcoming slow him down. He came out of the halftime break roaring, and scored again — and without a shadow of a doubt — with a 5-yard throw to backup tight end Josh Hill. Let’s recap each of his touchdown throws.

The first score tied Brees with New England Patriots icon Tom Brady, who finished his game Sunday 538 career touchdown passes. Brees found superstar wide receiver Michael Thomas in the heart of the Colts defense from 15 yards out, which extended the Saints’ lead and matched Brady’s mark:

The next touchdown pass went to second-year pro Tre’Quan Smith. Brees initially gave Smith a chance from 28 yards out, but the young receiver was interfered with and unable to go up and make the catch. So Brees hit him again from 19 yards away; Smith caught it this time, and rumbled two more yards into the end zone. This scoring play saw Brees’ career total climb to 539, matching the record set by retired legend Peyton Manning.

But records are made to be broken. Nobody knows that better than Brees, who has broken so many in his storied NFL career. And with history on the line, the Saints quarterback stepped up and delivered with a five-yard strike to Hill; not do-it-all quarterback Taysom Hill, but the backup tight end. Who else could?

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Cameron Jordan steps into second-place in all-time Saints sack leaders

New Orleans Saints DE Cameron Jordan sacked Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan four times in his team’s win, rising in the team history books.

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan went into Thursday night’s game against the Atlanta Falcons ranked third-best in sacks in team history, with 81 takedowns to his credit. That trailed Saints legends Wayne Martin (82.5) and Rickey Jackson (115) for the most all-time in black and gold.

Jordan went on to sack Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan four times in a lopsided victory, with his teammates accounting for five sacks of their own. That put his season total at 13.5 on the year so far, and 85 sacks in his career, surpassing Martin and putting Jackson’s high-water mark closer within reach (someday).

Back in April, Jordan expressed eagerness to test Atlanta’s remodeled offensive line, stocked with first-round draft picks like Kaleb McGary and Chris Lindstrom. He backed up those big words on Thursday night by barreling through McGary in the game’s closing minutes, including a fourth-down sack to seal the win.

It also helped wipe out from Jordan’s untimely personal foul a week earlier against the Carolina Panthers, proving that he’s prepared to lead by example (and own up to his mistakes) as one of New Orleans’ defensive leaders. With playmakers like Jordan leading the charge, the Saints might be too tough to beat.

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LeBron James thinks he’s having the best season of his career (Lebronwire)

Mere months after NBA analysts lamented the decline of LeBron James, the LA Laker thinks he’s having the best season of his career.

Mere months after NBA analysts lamented the decline of LeBron James, the LA Laker thinks he’s having the best season of his career.