Re: Brees coming back?
 

Exactly how old is this year's Super Bowl winning QB? Since 2001 the winning QB's have been Tom Brady, Brad Johnson, Tom Brady, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Nick Foles, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and Tom Brady. Out of all of those only Mahomes and possibly Wilson could be considered young when they won it all.

Re: Brees coming back?
 

Generally speaking it's a young mans game. Rugby players play into their fifties very often. I retired at 59. I was a little past my prime and I admit it. O-linemen can play later in life at a top level like QB's. We all know RB's have a short shelf life. WR's are losing their advantage generally by 30.

Once you lose that quick twitch in the NFL you are done playing at a high level at most positions in the NFL. Not necessarily just QB's. This is why I say football is a young mans game.

Edit: None of those players went through likely career ending surgery early in their career.

Re: Brees coming back?
 

lol, This logic, oh man...

Ok, in:

2001 TB was 24 (born in Aug/77) when he played his first SB, lol. They weren’t ALWAYS over 40. My guess is that Tom Brady skews your sample set wrt years upwards, as he has aged, bc of the sheer number of SB’s he’s played in..., and won. Heck ⅓ of the seasons he has won a SB during the years you provided.

In 2002, how old was Brad Johnson (born in 68)? 34, lol. So yes, at 34 he was an older player.

In 2003, TB was only 2 years older at 26.

In 2004, TB was only 3 years older at 27.

I can go on and evaluate each one, at the time they played their SB’s, but you see the logic. Brad Johnson at 52 right now..., wasn’t 52 when he played in his SB. Tom Brady at 43 now..., wasn’t 43 when he played his first SB either. Rothlesberger was 23 during his first, same as Mahomes, with Brady just months behind them as who was the youngest to win it all.

Throughout all of the SB era the age of winning SB QB’s breaks down like this:

25 and under - (6)
26-30 - (24)
31-35 - (16)
36 - (9) including this year's SB.

Of those nine over 36, they are:

John Elway (twice)
Johnny Unitas
Jim Plunkett
Peyton Manning (Broncos)
&
Tom Brady (four times with two different teams)

The sweet spot is roughly 31 years old, if you average them all up. For reference - Drew Brees, born in 79, had just turned 31 when the Saints won their SB Feb 2010.

Re: Brees coming back?
 

Drew finished tied for 13TH in the league w/ 7.5 yards per attempt.
And that was w/o MT for 90% of the season. Sanders missed 4 games, Tre' Quan missed 4 games and your free agent TE was a bust.
Which led to dumping off to AK too often.

Re: Brees coming back?
 

Show Rodger where they hurt you. ;)

Re: Brees coming back?
 

Indeed. Plus, going back to early Payton tenure, his offense has allways featured getting the ball to RBs through the pass. Bush, Thomas, Sproles, Kamara were all superior pass catching RBs. When a third plus of your passes go to RBs then your yard per attempt is likely to go down.

Re: Brees coming back?
 

Didn’t think that one through did ya?

Ben Roethlisberger was 23 lol....
Aaron Rodgers - 27
Eli Manning - 27

Re: Brees coming back?
 

Great points here in this thread! Love the back and forth!

Re: Brees coming back?
 

I kinda have the same feelings as far as QBs. If you are a good organization with sound coaching and management, then (barring mass injuries) you can be competitive and in the playoff hunt with a variety of QB options out there. Saints did fine with fill ins when Brees was down. Although they had a down year, New England was competitive as hell last year and was in the playoff hunt until late in the season with Scam as the QB. Dallas was competitive as well when they were down to their 3rd QB.

A good offensive mind like Payton’s can hopefully figure out how to move on from here. The day they are in the bottom 10 for offense and scoring I’ll start to re-evaluate him.

Re: Brees coming back?
 

Just about all of the barring Brady and Manning second when he was given probably the most tools of any QB in history where still in their Primes of late 20s to very early 30s