Drew Brees in consideration to join Fox Sports' broadcast team
Drew Brees is only one full season removed from taking hits on the field, but he's still making moves. The former New Orleans Saints quarterback transitioned from the field to NBC Sports and could be heading to another network this season. According to the New York Post via Sports Illustrated, the former quarterback is under consideration to become the leading analyst for the network.
The news comes weeks after Joe Buck and Troy Aikman announced that they were both leaving Fox's football commentator booth for ESPN's Monday Night Football.
Last season, Brees was featured on the pre-game, halftime, and post-game shows of Sunday Night Football alongside Mike Tirico, who is taking over as the play-by-play announcer for Al Michaels.
Happy Birthday to our very own @Buck! https://t.co/szOyUhfWVm
It was announced that Michaels was going to be calling games for Thursday Night Football in 2022 for Amazon. Put simply, if it seems like everything is getting shuffled in the commentator booth across the league, those feelings would be accurate. Overall, there has been more shuffling at the top of the commentator hierarchy than any other offseason in, at least, the last decade.
Drew Brees' career
The broadcaster is embarking on year two of his second career. His first career was as a quarterback in the NFL. He was drafted in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, landing with the San Diego Chargers, according to Pro Football Reference. He sat his first season before taking the field in 2002.
A star-studded tee box at the @Zurich_Classic pro-am with Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and Payton’s longtime PGA Tour pal Ryan Palmer https://t.co/kU0IE8fJu7
His first starting season was encouraging, but left plenty of room for improvement. He threw 17 touchdowns and three interceptions, but he went 8-8. However, his second starting season saw a big dip in play. He went 2-9 in 11 starts and threw for 11 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
In 2004 and 2005, he righted the ship, going 20-11 and throwing for 51 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. However, by the end of the 2005 season, Philip Rivers was making noise as Brees' backup. The team had to make a choice, and they ultimately sent the quarterback to the New Orleans Saints.
From 2006-2020, the quarterback remained with the team. With the Saints, he helped win a Super Bowl with head coach Sean Payton. In 15 seasons, he threw for 491 touchdowns and 190 interceptions.
Overall, he had five losing seasons and ten seasons over .500 in games played as a starter. However, he wasn't ready to fully step away from football. He quickly transitioned to the media. Now, he could be poised for his first big promotion to become the face of one of the big football broadcast networks. Will Brees find himself in loud stadiums once again this season?