The Brees & Payton Era- Franchise Legend
- Modern Era Icon
Drew Brees
- Position
- QBQuarterback
- Number
- #9
- Saints years
- 2006–2020
- NFL career
- 2001–2020
- Era
- The Brees & Payton Era
- Franchise
- New Orleans Saints
Honors
- Super Bowl XLIV Champion
- Super Bowl XLIV Most Valuable Player
- 2x AP Offensive Player of the Year
- Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year
- AP Comeback Player of the Year· San Diego Chargers
Also played for San Diego Chargers (2001–2005).
Why he’s a legend
The legacy
Drew Brees signed with New Orleans in March 2006 coming off a torn labrum that scared off the rest of the league, in a city that had just lost most of its housing stock and was not certain it would keep its football team. Fifteen seasons later he had won a Super Bowl, held the NFL career records for passing yards and completions, and left the Saints with more offensive records than the previous thirty-nine years had produced combined. No player in franchise history is closer to being the franchise itself.
Why he matters
- He is the Saints’ all-time leader in passing yards, touchdown passes, completions and attempts, by margins no active player is near.
- He quarterbacked the only championship team in franchise history and was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLIV.
- He held the NFL career records for passing yards and completions when he retired, and still owns the record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass (54) and for 5,000-yard seasons (five — no other quarterback has more than one).
- He was twice named Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year, in 2008 and 2011, and made thirteen Pro Bowls.
- His arrival is inseparable from the reopening of the Superdome and the city’s recovery; he won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in his first season in New Orleans.
Defining moment
Super Bowl XLIV
2009 season
Brees completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns against Peyton Manning and the Colts, including a stretch of eighteen consecutive completions, and finished the game as its Most Valuable Player. It was the first championship in the forty-three-year history of the franchise, and the image of Brees holding his son on the confetti-covered field is the single most reproduced photograph in Saints history.
Career statistics
Current through the 2020 season
With the Saints
- Games
- 228
- Passing Yards
- 68,010
- Passing Touchdowns
- 491
- Interceptions
- 190
- Completions
- 6,017
- Attempts
- 8,742
- Completion %
- 68.8%
- Playoff Record
- 9–8
Full NFL career(2001–2020, all teams)
- Games
- 287
- Passing Yards
- 80,358
- Passing Touchdowns
- 571
- Interceptions
- 243
- Completions
- 7,142
- Attempts
- 10,551
- Completion %
- 67.7%
- Passer Rating
- 98.7
Where he ranks
- #1All-Time Saints Passing Yards68,010Saints all-time
- #1All-Time Saints Passing Touchdowns491Saints all-time
- #1All-Time Saints Completions6,017Saints all-time
- #1All-Time Saints Pass Attempts8,742Saints all-time
- #1NFL Career Passing Yards80,358NFL all-time · at his retirement in 2021
- #1NFL Career Completions7,142NFL all-time · at his retirement in 2021
Career production
Passing yards by season
How did his production hold up across the years?
Drew Brees: passing yards in each of 15 seasons, from 2,942 to 5,476. The table below carries every value.
View the 15 rows behind this chart
| Season | Team | Pass Yds | Pass TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | New Orleans | 4,418 | 26 | 11 |
| 2007 | New Orleans | 4,423 | 28 | 18 |
| 2008 | New Orleans | 5,069 | 34 | 17 |
| 2009 | New Orleans | 4,388 | 34 | 11 |
| 2010 | New Orleans | 4,620 | 33 | 22 |
| 2011 | New Orleans | 5,476 | 46 | 14 |
| 2012 | New Orleans | 5,177 | 43 | 19 |
| 2013 | New Orleans | 5,162 | 39 | 12 |
| 2014 | New Orleans | 4,952 | 33 | 17 |
| 2015 | New Orleans | 4,870 | 32 | 11 |
| 2016 | New Orleans | 5,208 | 37 | 15 |
| 2017 | New Orleans | 4,334 | 23 | 8 |
| 2018 | New Orleans | 3,992 | 32 | 5 |
| 2019 | New Orleans | 2,979 | 27 | 4 |
| 2020 | New Orleans | 2,942 | 24 | 6 |
Season by season
| 2006 | 16 | 4,418 | 26 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 16 | 4,423 | 28 | 18 |
| 2008 | 16 | 5,069 | 34 | 17 |
| 2009 | 15 | 4,388 | 34 | 11 |
| 2010 | 16 | 4,620 | 33 | 22 |
| 2011 | 16 | 5,476 | 46 | 14 |
| 2012 | 16 | 5,177 | 43 | 19 |
| 2013 | 16 | 5,162 | 39 | 12 |
| 2014 | 16 | 4,952 | 33 | 17 |
| 2015 | 15 | 4,870 | 32 | 11 |
| 2016 | 16 | 5,208 | 37 | 15 |
| 2017 | 16 | 4,334 | 23 | 8 |
| 2018 | 15 | 3,992 | 32 | 5 |
| 2019 | 11 | 2,979 | 27 | 4 |
| 2020 | 12 | 2,942 | 24 | 6 |
| Career | 228 | 68,010 | 491 | 190 |
Best seasons
Best season
2009 — Drew Brees
4,388 yards, 34 touchdowns, 11 interceptions
- Led the NFL in completion percentage and passer rating
- Saints opened 13–0
- Super Bowl XLIV Most Valuable Player
Not his biggest statistical season, and the only one that ends with a parade. The 2009 Saints scored 510 points, the most in franchise history, and Brees was the most efficient quarterback in the league across all sixteen games and three playoff wins.
Best season
2011 — Drew Brees
5,476 yards, 46 touchdowns, 14 interceptions
- Broke Dan Marino’s 27-year-old single-season passing record
- AP Offensive Player of the Year
- Saints won 13 games and the NFC South
The statistical peak. The record had stood since 1984 and Brees passed it on a fourth-quarter touchdown at home against Atlanta on Monday night.
Best season
2018 — Drew Brees
3,992 yards, 32 touchdowns, 5 interceptions
- 74.4% completion rate, an NFL single-season record
- Passed Peyton Manning for the career yardage record
- Saints went 13–3 and reached the NFC Championship Game
His most efficient season at age 39, on the fewest attempts of any 30-touchdown year he had. The record he set that autumn was for accuracy, not volume, which is the better description of what he actually was.
Honors & accolades
Championships & enshrinement
- Super Bowl XLIV Champion2009 season
League awards & All-Pro
- Super Bowl XLIV Most Valuable Player2009 season
- 2x AP Offensive Player of the Year2008, 2011
- Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year2006
- AP Comeback Player of the Year· San Diego Chargers2004
- NFL 2010s All-Decade Team
Selections & records
- 13x Pro Bowl2004, 2006, 2008–2014, 2016–2019
- NFL record: 54 straight games with a touchdown pass2009–2012
- NFL record: five 5,000-yard passing seasons2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016
- Saints career record holder: yards, touchdowns, completions, attempts
Career timeline
20 seasons in the NFL, 15 of them in New Orleans.
- 2001San Diego Chargers
- 2002San Diego Chargers
- 2003San Diego Chargers
- 2004San Diego Chargers
- 2005San Diego Chargers
- 2006New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro BowlWalter Payton Man of the YearSigns with New OrleansSix years, coming off surgery on a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year
- 2007New Orleans Saints16 games
- 2008New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro BowlOffensive Player of the YearAP Offensive Player of the Year5,069 yards, 15 short of Dan Marino’s single-season record.
- 2009New Orleans Saints15 gamesPro BowlSuper Bowl XLIV ChampionSuper Bowl MVPSuper Bowl XLIV Champion and Most Valuable Player
- 2010New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro Bowl
- 2011New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro BowlOffensive Player of the YearBreaks the NFL single-season passing record5,476 yards.
- 2012New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro BowlExtends the touchdown-pass streak to 54 straight games
- 2013New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro Bowl
- 2014New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro Bowl
- 2015New Orleans Saints15 games
- 2016New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro Bowl
- 2017New Orleans Saints16 gamesPro Bowl
- 2018New Orleans Saints15 gamesPro BowlPasses Peyton Manning for the NFL career passing yardage record
- 2019New Orleans Saints11 gamesPro Bowl
- 2020New Orleans Saints12 gamesFinal seasonRetires in March 2021 holding the career records for yards and completions.
Era context
What the league looked like while Drew Brees played it. Raw totals across eras are not like-for-like.
The Brees & Payton Era
2006–2020
A quarterback nobody else wanted, a coach nobody had hired, and a Super Bowl.
- The most pass-friendly rules environment in NFL history to that point; raw passing totals from these years dwarf every earlier era.
- Sixteen-game seasons throughout, with a 12-team playoff field from 2020.
- The franchise won seven division titles in this span, including four consecutive from 2017 to 2020.
Data & sources
Statistics on this profile are current through the 2020 season.
- Saints totals are his full NFL line minus his five seasons with the San Diego Chargers (2001–2005). The fifteen season rows below add to the Saints totals exactly.
- The NFL career records for passing yards and completions were his when he retired in March 2021; both have since been passed by Tom Brady.
