Report: Drew Brees responds to Saints inquiry about coming out of retirement

The New Orleans Saints have COVID-19 issues at quarterback. Would a former legend come out of retirement to help them? They wanted to find out.

According to Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football, the Saints called former quarterback and Super Bowl champion Drew Brees to gauge his interest in returning to the field.

Brees’ response? He was golfing. Sounds like he’s pretty content with where he is.

In his first year off, Brees worked for NBC as a color commentator for Notre Dame football and an analyst on Football Night in America, NBC’s pregame show for Sunday Night Football.

The Saints are in this situation ahead of a Monday Night Football matchup with the Miami Dolphins because of virus and injury issues. Jameis Winston, who started the season as the No. 1 signal caller for New Orleans, is out for the year with a torn ACL, and backups Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill both tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The Saints are expected to start Ian Book, the rookie out of Notre Dame, and they signed Blake Bortles to back him up. Running back Alvin Kamara is reportedly an emergency option at quarterback.

Book, a California native and former three-star recruit, is the all-time winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history with 35 starts, 30 wins and two starts in the College Football Playoff. He also took Notre Dame to their first and only appearance in a conference title game, the 2020 ACC Championship Game which they lost to Clemson. 

Payton to return for Monday Night Football

In positive New Orleans news, Saints head coach Sean Payton has been cleared to return to the field for Monday’s game after testing positive for COVID-19 last week. Payton was the first known NFL head coach to contract the virus back in March 2020.

Both the Saints and the Dolphins are 7-7. The Saints are coming off a 9-0 shutout win over the division-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while the Dolphins have won six consecutive games, and their defense is rolling. They are allowing an average of 13 points per game in those six contests.

The game kicks off from the Caesars Superdome at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN.