Even If He Wanted to, Drew Brees Wouldn’t Have Been Allowed to Play for the Broncos Last Season. Here’s Why.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Drew Brees found himself in the news cycle on Monday night, just before kickoff of the Chiefs’ win over the Broncos to close out Week 1.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Super Bowl XLIV champion mulled over playing for the Broncos in last season’s AFC championship game. The team’s starter, Bo Nix, had just fractured his ankle in the team’s divisional round win over the Bills, and the only other quarterbacks they had on the roster were Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger.

Two of Denver’s former offensive coaches, Joe Lombardi and Pete Carmichael Jr.—both of whom coached Brees alongside Sean Payton for over a decade with the Saints—reportedly spoke with the 47-year-old about coming out of retirement to try to help them reach the Super Bowl. Brees reportedly told the duo that he wanted to work out first to see how his body would respond—and discomfort in his wrist ultimately put the kibosh on his potential return. Payton apparently didn’t hear about the interaction with Brees until the offseason.

As we now know, the Broncos turned to Stidham for the AFC title game, and ultimately lost to the Patriots 10–7 on a snowy day in Denver.

There are plenty of interesting angles to this story, headlined by the fact that Brees was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past August. He found out about the honor in early February with a knock on his door from Dan Fouts, which came less than two weeks after the AFC title game and on the same weekend the quarterback could have been preparing to play in the Super Bowl, had the Broncos beaten the Patriots. Had Brees returned, his five-year Hall of Fame waiting period would have reset, meaning he wouldn’t have been eligible for induction until 2031. It would have been fascinating to see how the Hall would have handled this, even putting aside that his presence on the ballot had already affected other players’ vote totals.

All of this said, however, even if Brees had been healthy and wanted to play, he wouldn’t have been allowed to under league rules. Here’s why.

Why Drew Brees wouldn’t have been allowed to play for Broncos in 2026 AFC championship game

Sean Pyton. — Sean Payton and the Broncos lost to the Patriots in the AFC title game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When Brees announced his retirement from football in March 2021, he still had one year remaining on the extension he signed with the Saints ahead of the ’20 season. While he did do the club a favor—restructuring his deal to the veteran minimum salary of $1.075 million, saving New Orleans significant salary cap space—he was still under contract, and that ultimately forced the Saints to place him on the reserve/retired list.

As outlined by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the NFL rulebook states that a player can not be released or reinstated from the reserve/retired list once the Tuesday following Week 13 of the regular season has passed. So, even if the Saints would have been willing to let Brees out of his contract, they wouldn’t have been allowed to by the league.

What about Philip Rivers’s return to the Colts last season, you ask? His previous contract with Indianapolis had expired at the time of his first retirement, which made him a free agent and able to re-sign.

What could we have expected from Drew Brees return? Not much.

Putting the rules aside for a second, it would have been difficult to expect much from Brees had he actually returned.

Back in 2024, the two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year told ESPN that, if not for degeneration in his right shoulder, he would have likely played several more years. He also admitted that he can no longer throw with his right arm.

“I can drop a dime like 30 yards, left-handed,” Brees said of playing catch with his kids. “Unfortunately, you need a little bit more than that to compete at this level. I throw left-handed with the boys, with everything. Anything below my shoulder, below the waist, racket sports, golf, that’s fine.”

While Brees did also say that, outside of his right arm, the rest of his body feels great, you need to be able to throw a football to play quarterback. And so, even if the NFL had allowed him to return, it’s difficult to imagine he would have made much of an impact on the Broncos’ season.

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