Drew Brees discusses Saints’ disappointing season, Sean Payton’s rebound, and latest business venture

The New Orleans Saints have yet to make the playoffs in the post-Drew Brees era, and that stretch will likely continue into a fourth year this season.

After a recent loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Saints fell to 2-7 and fired Dennis Allen as their head coach.

Brees knows what it takes to win. He is a Super Bowl champion and was 172-114 in his record-breaking Hall of Fame career. 

And unfortunately, that's why axing Allen was a move that "needed to be made."

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"You never want to let a coach go midseason, but at the end of the day, the business is about winning. And if you’re not winning, there’s disappointment and changes made," Brees told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. 

However, Brees has confidence in the veteran leadership on both sides of the ball, saying the franchise is still a "very functional organization."

"An organization that knows what it means to put the best product on the field, have a great culture, be able to overcome adversity. Unfortunately, they were on a trend where they had a lot of losses in a row, it wasn’t working, a change needed to be made. Those things happen, but if you ask the leadership on the team, they’re all trending in the right direction right now if they can stay healthy."

Health has been a huge issue. Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed have both been out, and now Derek Carr is slated to miss the rest of the season. As Brees says, "You take the starting two receivers off the team, you’re going to struggle."

And for the Saints, Brees says they are close to getting back to the glory days.

"When you look at the entirety of a season, it’s going to come down to one or two games where you look back on and say, ‘We missed the playoffs because of those two. If we got the job done, we could have potentially made the playoffs and totally changed the complexion of the entire season.’ And within those two games, it’s one play here, one play there," he said.

In retirement, Brees has become an owner, investor and ambassador for Sports Illustrated Tickets, with his goal to make it the best secondary marketplace in the ticketing industry.

Launched in 2021 as the exclusive licensed operator of Sports Illustrated's live events vertical, Sports Illustrated Tickets struck a deal with the New York Red Bulls to have the SI name on its stadium, and Brees, who was on six Sports Illustrated covers, wants to make it easier for fans to get to sporting events by nixing hidden fees.

"It’s one of the most iconic brands in all of sports. I think it’s something that resonates with all of us, especially for my generation and beyond. …" Brees said. "I think what we saw is a great need and opportunity in the ticketing marketplace, both in the primary and secondary ticketing marketplace. … So we felt like there was an opportunity to step in and create a clean and transparent ticketing process that would allow people to see exactly the price they’re going to pay, no hidden fees, never trying to trick anybody. We want to be that ticketing solution across every live sporting event, every live concert at every venue in the country behind an iconic brand like Sports Illustrated."

"I think there’s some incredible nostalgia that comes with the brand," he added. "It stands for credibility and something that people can trust. So, while Sports Illustrated started off as a publication, now there’s a lot of different avenues that it’s going. It’s being licensed to groups that are great operators."

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While the Saints have not found success post-Brees, the quarterback's former right-hand man, Sean Payton, has with the Denver Broncos. After winning just eight games with Russell Wilson in 2023 in his return to the sidelines, Payton is now 8-5 with rookie Bo Nix, and Brees loves what he sees.

"It’s been awesome. I know the way Sean Payton wants to build a program. He’s an incredible teacher, and what Sean always does a great job of week to week is just creating the key to victory, the vision to win this game. And each game might be a little different, but he creates that vision and gets everyone to buy in and recognize what it’s going to take and just kind of narrow the focus and block out the noise," Brees said.

"He takes the young quarterback who you’re going to have growing pains with – to watch Bo continue to progress and gain a level of comfort, you see a guy who’s mature beyond his years, very poised, can do everything, great athlete, highly competitive, but make him process the game. Defense has played well, you have playmakers emerge on offense, they’re going to be tough down the stretch."

Brees will be eligible for the Hall of Fame next year, and with his 80,000-plus passing yards and 13 Pro Bowls, he is all but ensured of a bust in Canton.

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