New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) runs off the field after a 35-32 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in an NFL football game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A day after throwing five touchdowns Sunday in the Saints’ first win in Pittsburgh since 1987, quarterback Drew Brees said a widely-circulated report that New Orleans is prepared to spend a high draft pick on his successor this upcoming season “has absolutely no validity to it.”
Brees was talking about a Sunday morning report from the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport while the Saints’ franchise QB was a guest on a Fox Sports Radio show hosted by Jay Mohr.
“A lot of times you can look at who’s writing that stuff and you can say, ‘All right, this guy is trying to make a splash, trying to make a name for himself,'” Brees told Mohr on Monday. “Whatever it might be, I think in a lot of cases, I’m not sure where they get their information, if they just completely make it up, or if the sources are their cousin.”
Rapoport went on his Twitter account before the Saints kicked off against the Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday and wrote that New Orleans was preparing for life after Brees and that the organization wished it had drafted a quarterback for the future back in May.
Rapoport cited Brees’ age — he turns 36 in January. Without naming a source, the reporter relayed that New Orleans was seeing its star quarterback’s arm strength “wane.” And he referred to Brees’ relatively short height of 6 feet.
There’s no question Brees — like the rest of his team — struggled at junctures as the Saints lost seven of their first 11 games. Brees threw 11 interceptions over that stretch, several of which were costly and were major factors in some of the Saints’ defeats.
To many outsiders, it appeared he was forcing throws to extend drives as the Saints’ defense struggled to keep opponents’ yards and points down — that unit was ranked second-to-last in the league on Monday night.
Furthermore, the Saints have previously said they would never rule out acquiring any draftee, including someone who was franchise QB material.
But then, with impeccable timing, Brees on Sunday delivered his highest passer rating of the season so far (140). He completed 19 of his 27 throws for 257 yards and five touchdowns, including a 69-yard strike to receiver Kenny Stills that was the Saints’ longest play from scrimmage this season.
Brees also threw a 44-yard pass to Stills, hours after Rapoport had reported the Saints were questioning how strong his arm was these days. The Saints beat the Steelers (7-5) to improve to 5-7.
Mohr asked Brees if Rapoport’s report provided extra motivation to light the Steelers up. Brees said it didn’t.
“I don’t listen to (reports of that kind) just ’cause I know that really, probably 90 percent of it is not true, or it’s maybe just slightly true,” said Brees, who was the MVP of the Saints’ lone NFL championship victory in Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7, 2010.
Brees’ conversation with Mohr also touched upon another controversial report that surfaced shortly before the Steelers game: that Saints head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan hated each other.
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora said sources he has on the team indicated to him that there was a rift so deep between Payton and Ryan that the defensive coordinator’s departure after the season was inevitable. As evidence of what he called a growing divide between Ryan and Payton, La Canfora offered up heated verbal exchanges the two Saints coaches have had this year in view of television cameras.
They’ve happened in a loss at Cleveland, a setback at home to Baltimore and in the course of winning at Pittsburgh. On the flip side, cameras also captured Ryan and Payton bumping fists and bodies to celebrate as the Saints finished off the Steelers.
In a post-game news conference, Payton dismissed that report as a rumor. Payton said his relationship with Ryan is “outstanding.” And he accused La Canfora of getting his information from one of the three defensive coordinators that preceded Ryan in New Orleans, where Payton took charge in 2006.
Brees echoed his coach’s sentiments to Mohr.
“I’m trying not to laugh because it’s ridiculous,” Brees said to Mohr. “If you’re referring to maybe Sean Payton’s demeanor on the sideline, … he’s an intense guy … he’s on players, he’s on coaches, he’s involved.
“There’s not a coach in the league who’s more hands-on and who cares as much about everything that’s going on than Sean Payton.”
Brees joined the Saints in 2006, and on Sunday he became the first player in NFL history to throw for five touchdown passes and no interceptions on seven different occasions. He, Payton, Ryan and the rest of the Saints are off Tuesday. On Wednesday, they’ll begin full preparations to face Carolina (3-8-1) at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome four days later.