Drew Brees Responds to Claims He’s Leaving NBC

Reports surfaced on Sunday that the former Saints star was leaving his role as analyst for NBC after just one season.

Hours after reports emerged that Drew Brees would not return to NBC in his role as a studio analyst, Brees took to Twitter to set the record straight that his media—and football—future remained up in the air.

Despite speculation from media about my future this fall, I’m currently undecided. I may work for NBC, I may play football again, I may focus on business and philanthropy, I may train for the pickleball tour, senior golf tour, coach my kids or all of the above. I’ll let you know

— Drew Brees (@drewbrees) May 15, 2022

The New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand reported earlier Sunday that NBC and Brees had mutually agreed to part ways, with some discrepancy about what Brees’s role with the network would be. Brees apparently envisioned a role as a color commentator, while the network wanted him as an analyst for Football Night in America.

Marchand’s report also notes that the network once saw Brees as the heir apparent to lead play-by-play analyst Cris Collinsworth as the color commentator for Sunday Night Football, but it no longer sees him as a fit for the role after a subpar performance in the Bengals-Raiders playoff game last season.

While many might not have viewed a potential split from NBC as a surprise, the idea that Brees is considering a return to the field is certainly more unexpected. Brees last played in 2020, appearing in 12 games for New Orleans and throwing for 2,942 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions.

In his tweet, Brees floated the idea of working for NBC again next year, but he didn’t mention the possibility of moving to a different network. It’s possible that he could move to a rival network where he would have a better opportunity to settle into a role calling games.