Nick Saban reflects on Miami Dolphins tenure, Drew Brees failed physical

Nick Saban spent two seasons with the Miami Dolphins as their head coach, and it’s often looked back on as a disappointing tenure, and a blight on an otherwise generational coaching record.

While Saban went 9-7 his first season, the Dolphins fell to 6-10 during Year 2, and that’s when the college football savant decided to return to the ranks he was more familiar with, taking the job with the Alabama Crimson Tide and the rest is history. However, one offseason decision could’ve changed the landscape of the NFL and the college football world.

During an appearance on The Pivot Podcast, Saban elaborated on how Miami almost landed Drew Brees after he was let-go from the San Diego Chargers. Unfortunately, a failed physical led to the Dolphins pivoting to Daunte Culpepper, who was at the tail-end of his career, and Brees took his talents to the New Orleans Saints.

One has to wonder if Brees would’ve had the same level of success under Saban and he did with Sean Payton in New Orleans, but it certainly could’ve changed the trajectory of Saban’s career. It all came so close to coming true, as Brees was even setting up in the Dolphins locker room before his physical fell through.

“He was [in Miami]. He was all set,” Saban stated. “The last thing before you sign a contract, you go get a physical. So I’m like, ‘This is all done.’ Then, they call me on the phone and say, ‘We don’t think he could play.’ But Dr. Andrews in Birmingham did his surgery, and also did it on [Daunte] Culpepper. He did it on both guys. I flew to see him, because I wanted — before we ever got went down this road, to see what his thoughts were. I had a lot of respect for him. He’s a LSU guy, and I’ve known him for years. So I flew up there and talked to him and he said, ‘Drew Brees will be fine.’ He said, ‘Daunte is going to have a hard time, because, you know, he needs his mobility to be an effective quarterback, and I don’t know if he’ll ever fully get it back,’ you know, because his knee was so messed up.

“So, I’m saying, ‘Let’s go get Drew Brees.’ He’s a free agent. We’ve got to trade for Daunte. Better deal to take the free agent and still keep your second round pick. They failed him on the physical, and they called me on the phone. Well, you know, you can’t call up the owner and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to sign this guy and give him all this money,’ you guys probably know how much it was, and he might not be able to play, right? So, I didn’t want to get in that briar-patch with the owner. I just said, ‘Okay,’ but I actually regretted it, because that year Drew Brees plays lights out for New Orleans.

“Now, the other part about that is — I actually had to call his agent and say we had a deal, but he didn’t pass the physical. He said, ‘Oh man, Nick. You can’t tell people he didn’t pass the physical. I’ll never get him signed any place.’ I said, ‘Nobody will know, how much time do you need?’ He said, ’72 hours.’ I never told anybody. Nobody knew for 72 hours, until he signed in New Orleans.”

All told, Nick Saban and Drew Brees wouldn’t change how it all worked out for either man. Dolphins fans may be a bit salty over the whole situation, but that’s how it goes in the NFL sometimes. You’ve got to take a leap of faith, and the Saints were rewarded, while Miami continues to wonder what could’ve been.