After the Denver Broncos lost their starting quarterback Bo Nix to a fractured ankle in the AFC Divisional Round game against the Buffalo Bills, Denver’s then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael had discussions with Drew Brees about the Hall of Fame quarterback coming out of retirement to play in the AFC Championship Game, Adam Schefter reports.
Brees had turned 47-years old just two days before Nix suffered the ankle injury on January 17th. He spoke to Lombardi and Carmichael, who were his assistant coaches in New Orleans, early in the week ahead of Denver’s AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots, telling them that he wanted to first workout to see how his body would respond.
But the workout didn’t go well as Brees found discomfort in his wrist and opted against the improbable return to the NFL, Schefter adds.
Brees retired from the NFL in March 2021, 15 years to to the day after he signed with the New Orleans Saints, and was selected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past summer.
The plot twist in all this is Broncos head Sean Payton, who coached Brees’ in New Orleans, did not know about this potential comeback. Lombardi and Carmichael did not include Payton nor inform him about their initial conversations with Brees. The assistant coaches first wanted to see if Brees was willing to return to the NFL to help Denver try to reach the Super Bowl before informing Payton.
Payton heard about the secret plot in the offseason, Schefter reports. When Payton found out that his assistants had broached the idea of a Brees return for the AFC Championship Game during the offseason, “he was both fascinated and flabbergasted.”
If Brees opted for the improbable comeback, Payton and the Broncos would have signed him and decided if he would be a better option at quarterback for the AFC Title Game instead of Jarrett Stidham.
With Stidham as their starter, the Broncos lost 10-7 to the Patriots in Denver. Stidham struggled in the snowy contest, completing 17 of 31 passes for 133 yards, one touchdown and one interception while also losing a fumble.
Certainly Brees and Payton have been close enough, and could have made a comeback work. The two discussed it this past summer, when Payton presented Brees for induction at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The two men, as instrumental as any in the history of New Orleans football, could have had the chance to write another wilder chapter in Denver.
