Last month, Drew Brees inked a new two-year, $50MM deal to return to the Saints and continue his playing career. However, that hasn’t stopped ESPN from courting Brees for their Monday Night Football booth with an eye on signing him once he retires (via Andrew Marchand of the New York Post). 

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It’s no surprise that ESPN wants to add the charismatic star to its lineup. Although Brees is contracted to play through the 2021 season, it’s possible that Brees may only be coming back for one more year. Recently, head coach Sean Payton told ESPN that Brees is “coming back for his final season.” It’s possible that Payton misspoke, but that could also be an indication that Brees is heading into his final campaign.

The Saints are planning to transition from the future Hall of Famer to Taysom Hill. This year, Hill will take on a much larger role in the offense. If all goes well, and Brees decides to move on to broadcasting or anything else, Hill may stand alone as the Saints’ starter in ’21.

An offer from ESPN could play a factor in Brees’ decision next year. While the networks can’t compete with Brees’ NFL dollars, the QB could still land a lucrative deal in the broadcast booth. Tony Romo, for example, signed a ten-year, $180MM deal with CBS. ESPN isn’t using that as “the measuring stick” for Brees, Marchand writes, but they are believed to be dangling a deal worth about $6.5MM/year. That’s similar to what Jon Gruden made towards the end of his MNF tenure.

Brees is the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns. Last year, he completed 74% of his throws with 27 touchdown passes in just eleven contests.

Drew Brees has already announced that not only will he play in 2020, but he won’t suit up for any team other than the Saints. Additionally, while Brees could certainly push for a hefty contract (even without interest from competing teams), he’s not expected to demand “top dollar” from New Orleans, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Now 41 years old, Brees earned $25MM annually under the terms of his most recent two-year deal with the Saints. Per Rapoport, Brees is expected to target that same level of salary on his new pact, despite the fact that he could almost surely command $30MM+ from New Orleans.

As of late February, Brees hadn’t discussed a fresh deal with the Saints, but he had been expected to re-sign before the start of the new league year. That would be beneficial to New Orleans, who used void years — which could be tacked on the Saints’ salary cap as dead money — on Brees’ latest pact.

However, that timeline could get complicated. Brees won’t sign a new deal until a new CBA has been ratified, which could come as early as Saturday. Free agency had been set to open next Wednesday, but that may be postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Regardless, Brees is fully expected back in New Orleans for the 2020 campaign. And by accepting less money than he’s worth on the open market, Brees could help the perpetually cap-strapped Saints add more talent around him.

Drew Brees recently confirmed that he would return to the field in 2020, and he had previously made it clear that he would only play for the Saints. So at this point, the drama that would ordinarily be surrounding a free agent QB of Brees’ caliber simply doesn’t exist.

However, GM Mickey Loomis said there have been no contract talks with Brees’ camp at this point, as Katherine Terrell of The Athletic tweets. Loomis, though, understandably hopes that the two sides will have a deal in place by the time free agency opens on March 18. New Orleans does not very much cap space at the moment, and Brees will eat into the room that it does have.

Of course, Brees is only one piece of the club’s QB puzzle. Restricted free agent Taysom Hill, though he will turn 30 in August and has thrown all of 13 career passes, is rumored to be a hot commodity, to the point that the Saints may feel compelled to put a first-rounder tender (worth roughly $4.6MM) on him. New Orleans has made it clear that it plans to transition to Hill whenever Brees’ career is over.

To that end, the Saints may wish to get Hill more experience as a true QB in 2020, and they surely hope Brees gives them a little bit of a break in terms of salary. Spotrac estimates his market value at $36.5MM, and while he will probably not sign for that much, New Orleans will not have the flexibility to do much past re-signing him and retaining Hill.

Which means that Loomis will do much of his offseason work tinkering at the margins and focusing on the draft. To help Brees — and eventually Hill — the Saints are reportedly eyeing receiver prospects. This year’s draft is especially deep at WR, and Pro Football Network‘s sources say as many as 25 receivers could be drafted by the end of the third round. New Orleans doesn’t have a second-round choice, but PFN hears that the club could use its first- and third-round selections on pass catchers to serve as needed depth behind stud Michael Thomas.