Uncertain as NFL autumns are, few players have been as consistently stellar as Drew Brees.
The surefire future Hall of Famer has made it known that he’s returning for the 2020 season and with every positive passing yard and likely every passing touchdown, he’ll be setting new NFL standards next season.
If that’s not enough, Brees will set another NFL milestone as soon as he plays his first down in 2020, according to NFL Research.
In playing at least one game next season, Brees will become the 20th player in NFL history to play in 20 or more seasons, per NFL Research.
At 41 years young, Brees is currently the all-time leader in passing yards (77,416) and passing touchdowns (547). Though Tom Brady‘s second-place yardage total is a distant second at 74,571, Brady’s second-place touchdown total stands currently at 541. Thus, there could be some jockeying throughout the 2020 season between the all-time greats and drinkers of the fountain of youth. Brady, of course, has also eclipsed 20 seasons in the league.
Brees has made it known that he intends to play his 15th season with the Saints and, as aforementioned, it will be his 20th overall. Of the previous 19 NFL players to have hit two decades in the league, six were on the NFL All-Time Team and just as many are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
As Brees’ impending next foray into the history books looms, he would join Brady once more as the only two quarterbacks to have played 20 or more seasons with two or fewer franchises. Brady, of course, might well join Brees as the only QBs to play that long with two franchises if he decides to move on from New England.
Before Brees, five other quarterbacks played 20 or more seasons. There’s Brady, of course, and then Brett Favre, Earl Morrall, Vinny Testaverde and the timeless wonder that was George Blanda, who played a historic 26 campaigns.
One way in which Brees can track down Brady is his performance in his 20th season. Brady, despite plenty of criticism that his 2019 play wasn’t to his usual standards, threw 24 touchdowns, which was the most by a QB in his 20th season.
Should Brees eclipse that mark, he’d have another record under his helmet.