Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton tried to tamp down a tampering possibility related to the Drew Brees story.
Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton followed up on the story that had the Broncos involved in inquiries about former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees stepping in to play in the AFC Championship game after Bo Nix went down with a fractured ankle, according to a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
The report focused on material from Adam Schefter of ESPN, with Schefter noting that former Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and former Broncos offensive assistant Pete Carmichael talked to Brees about coming out of retirement, per Florio.
Brees has since told ex-ESPN reporter Ed Werder that a former Saints assistant contacted Brees about the possibility. There’s a lot of scrambling going on about this, and Payton gave his version of the exchanges yesterday during his media availability.
“Drew had reached out, I think, right after the championship or right after the playoff win against Buffalo,” Payton told reporters. “I think he called Pete, probably texted Pete or Joe, those guys. None of it even came to my attention.
“So, when the story came up in Canton [during Brees’ HoF induction weekend], I kept thinking they were just talking about the COVID season. Even in the COVID season when he and I discussed possibly coming back for a Monday night game, he had trouble throwing it. So, I don’t think really anything really came of it. I think in Drew’s mind, there’s that competitor in him. So, I was kind of out of the loop.”
The big concern here, according to Florio, is the possibility of a tampering case, given that Brees is still on the Saints’ reserve retired list. The NFL can act without an active complaint from New Orleans, and the league has been known to discipline teams that do this sort of thing.
Payton is trying to tamp down the idea that the Broncos made the first move here, and the Denver coach doesn’t want the league looking into his internal maneuverings. He understands the possible ramifications there, even though he’s probably right about the weight of this story, which seems silly on the surface given how long Brees has been retired.
"I don’t think it’s a big story, but nonetheless, certainly one that once they described it to me,” the coach added, “it just never got to my level, I guess. He had reached out to Pete, I think, and then Joe.”
Payton has far bigger problems on his plate after the Broncos’ poor showing against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night, and he’s trying to make sure this non-story doesn’t turn into something real.
