New Orleans Saints: Is 2020 their last chance to win Super Bowl?
Despite getting close the past two years, the New Orleans Saints didn’t make it to the Super Bowl but is the 2020 season their last chance with Drew Brees?
In a lot of ways, the 2019 season for the New Orleans Saints was good. Despite losing Drew Brees, they still managed to have a winning record and earn a spot in the playoffs. The postseason, however, was once again short-lived after a Wild Card Round exit. But now they’re ready to give it another go in the 2020 campaign.
The major storyline heading into the offseason was whether Brees was going to return or retire. He eventually announced that he’d be returning for the 2020 season and is expected to re-sign in New Orleans. But with his return, it’s worth asking how close the Saints’ Super Bowl window is to closing.
It’s an extremely loaded question as the Saints fared pretty well without Brees. While it did take a bit of adjusting, Teddy Bridgewater helped keep the team afloat. It was a huge show of support for Brees and the team showing that they weren’t just built around their future Hall-of-Fame quarterback. Rather, the team was talented and able to be successful without Brees.
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However once Brees returned, the team seemed to unlock an entirely new level. Bridgewater filled in as well as he could but ultimately the Saints left some points out there. With Brees, the Saints were blowing teams out of the water including the Titans, Colts and Panthers. Though not surprising, New Orleans is at their best when Brees is under center.
It’s hard to imagine the Saints are going to find an easy replacement for Brees to keep the Super Bowl window open. Bridgewater seems likely to sign somewhere else in free agency and, while Taysom Hill could be re-signed, he’s far from a sure thing and is almost 30 years old as well. The Saints could try to draft a quarterback but, once again, experience and general readiness come into play.
With all that being said, it looks like the New Orleans Saints are on borrowed time as far as the Super Bowl window goes. Brees is their best chance at nabbing another ring. He won his last in 2010 so winning another 10 years later would be cool.
Brees is ambitious, talented and hard-working so there was no way he was going to retire this year. Beyond 2020 though, their Super Bowl window might be closing. With how talented the team is, they might be able to put up a winning record with a less-than-stellar quarterback — but capable of winning a title? That may be a stretch.
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At this point, winning a Super Bowl with Brees has to happen in 2020. No doubt Brees wants to retire soon as he has a family and his business ventures to keep him busy. And once he leaves, the chances of New Orleans bringing another Lombardi Trophy to the Big Easy seems immensely less likely.