Exclusive: Drew Brees on the state of the Saints, struggles to emerge as a contender
Drew Brees is looking forward to the New Orleans Saints this season.
The former longtime Saints quarterback and Super Bowl champion is "excited" to watch this current iteration after New Orleans came up just short of a playoff berth last season with a 9-8 record. Despite finishing with the same record as the NFC South division champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they lost out due to a tiebreaker.
Brees singles out Klint Kubiak's addition as offensive coordinator after helping lead the San Francisco 49ers as passing game coordinator last season.
"I'm excited for them (Saints)," says Brees in an interview with ClutchPoints relating to his investment in Sports Illustrated Tickets. "Klint Kubiak comes in with that offense from the 49ers, which is one of my favorite offenses to watch. I think it brings so many different dynamic elements that really fit with our personnel with the Saints. I'm excited to see Derek Carr in his second year, the chemistry with the guys on that side of the ball."
The Saints are an enigma of sorts considering they missed the playoffs while finishing in the top nine on both offense and defense. The other teams that achieved that feat in 2023 — the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills — all made it to the playoffs.
Drew Brees singles out the team's defensive play, saying they've played "great" football over the last several years. The defense has ranked within the top nine in points allowed per game in each of the past four seasons.
"Defensively, we've played great defensive football here for the last five years, being a top 10 defense without question," says Brees. "Hopefully that continues. I think we have some good young players in the secondary going to continue to grow and elevate. If you can generate a pass rush and guys are playing solid on the back end, you're going to get turnovers, you're going to give opportunities to the offense and just excited to see this offense work."
Post Drew Brees-era blues for Saints
While the Saints certainly have the talent — they have offensive stars in Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave — along with a stout defense, they haven't been able to parlay that into team success. Since Brees retired at the conclusion of the 2020 season, the Saints have failed to make it to the playoffs. While they've been a solid team — the Saints have finished with 9-8 records in two of the last three seasons — they haven't come close to being the annual playoff team they were when Brees and former head coach Sean Payton were leading the charge.
When asked why New Orleans has struggled to emerge as a playoff team in the post-Drew Brees era, the 13-time Pro Bowl QB has a simple answer — consistency.
"It's consistency," says Brees of why the Saints haven't emerged as a playoff contender. "At times, they look like a top 10 team and then the next week, it's not up to expectation. I think there is something about taking that next step in being this consistent performance or continue to build on what you did the week before. The NFL is so unique, injuries and certain factors can play such a big role from week to week. It's not who you play, it's when you're playing, it's what we used to always say. The parody of the league is such that, anybody can beat anybody on Sunday, right? You have to execute. That's attention to detail, that's leadership, that's the core players just elevating their play each and every week, giving them a chance to win."
The Saints are off to a good start to the 2024 season, hammering the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 by a score of 47-10. While that's impressive, it did occur against a team that went 2-15 last season.
