Drew Brees Becomes 4th Quarterback to Reach 60,000 Passing Yards

Drew Brees has been one of the most prolific quarterbacks of his generation, and the New Orleans Saints star entered truly rarefied air Monday.

With a 27-yard touchdown strike to Brandin Cooks in the third quarter against the Detroit Lions, Brees surpassed 60,000 passing yards for his career. Only three other players in NFL history have reached that impressive mark:

Later in the game, Brees cleared 4,000 passing yards on the season, a feat he has accomplished an NFL record 10 times in a row, announced the Saints. Brees finished with 341 passing yards and three touchdowns in the 35-27 loss to the Lions. 

Despite being on the wrong side of 30 years old, Brees continues to be one of the league's more consistent quarterbacks. He entered Week 15 with 3,794 yards, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on 67.8 percent passing this season. You can't lay the blame for the Saints' disappointing season at the door of Brees or his offensive teammates.

Players	Years Active	Passing Yards
Peyton Manning	1998-Present	71,871
Brett Favre	1991-2010	71,838
Dan Marino	1983-1999	61,361
Drew Brees	2001-Present	60,168

While he may be compiling yards at a historic pace, Brees rarely gives much thought to his body of work.

"Usually that’s the intro when somebody has me on their radio show," he said, per ESPN.com's Mike Triplett. "Other than that, I don’t really think about it."

Brees added that his numbers are the result of a team effort:

"

I mean, those are fun because you can reflect back on all the people that were a part of that. A lot of guys caught those 421 touchdowns thus far. And hopefully there’s a lot more. So you think about the guys that were a part of that and could always be a part of that. And that’s really cool, that’s great. Those are fun to celebrate in the locker room afterward, too. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to win a championship.

"

To a certain extent, Brees will always be overshadowed by two of his contemporaries—much in the same way that fans often discuss four-time Super Bowl champion Joe Montana as a better quarterback than Dan Marino even though Marino had better statistics.

Tom Brady is also a four-time Super Bowl champion and three-time Super Bowl MVP in an era of unparalleled parity, while Peyton Manning may be the best pure passer ever. Brees has neither had the success of Brady, nor does he hold such an exulted place in fans' minds as Manning does.

Like Marino, though, Brees' greatness will never be in question.

It's good that the Saints fanbase has at least one achievement to celebrate regarding their beloved quarterback since this could potentially be his final season in New Orleans.

Brees has a $30 million cap hit in 2016. After suffering a shoulder injury earlier in the year, he is no longer a pillar of consistency from a health perspective.

Given the Saints' well-documented salary-cap struggles, general manager Mickey Loomis could decide the financial benefits of releasing Brees would be worth the public-relations hit it would inevitably bring.

Even if he stays with the team through next year, the end is coming for the 36-year-old, who will turn 37 on Jan. 15.

Few quarterbacks—no matter how great—remain effective beyond the age of 40, if they even stay in the league that long. Marino, Montana, Steve Young and John Elway all retired following their age-38 seasons, leaving Brady, Brett Favre and Manning as the exceptions to the rule.

If Brees can stay effective for another few years, he may be able to join Favre and Manning as the only QBs in the 70,000-yard club.