Drew Brees wasn’t drafted by the Saints, but he spent 15 seasons in New Orleans playing for Sean Payton. Together, the two turned around the Saints, who had never won anything until both arrived in 2006.
The Saints went 142-86 in the regular season and 9-8 in the postseason with a Super Bowl championship during Brees’ time as Payton’s quarterback.
Now, Payton gets a chance to do something that’s never been done -- win a Super Bowl ring with two different franchises. Payton, who was named the head coach of the Broncos on Tuesday, inherits one-time Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson.
“He’s really excited,” Brees said of Wilson during an interview with Ed Werder of ESPN. “He can speak for himself, but I think the idea of having Sean Payton come for what he’s hoping is the rest of his career, I’m not sure there’s a better scenario for him.”
Wilson is 10-19 the past two seasons, one in Seattle and one in Denver. In 2022, he had a career-low 84.4 passer rating with a career-low 16 touchdowns and took a career-high 55 sacks.
“To me, this is set up to be Russell Wilson’s prime _ especially with Sean Payton and a system that’s going to be built around him,” Brees told Werder. “This is a great opportunity for Russell Wilson.”