Saints Setting Up Drew Brees for Career Year in New Orleans

As Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints enter what could be their last year together, it's hardly surprising the Super Bowl-winning quarterback is the center of attention in the Big Easy.

After all, he's the face of the franchise. The best player ever to don the black and gold.

At some point in the not-too-distant future, the Saints are going to have to consider theirs where the 37-year-old is concerned. Whether or not it's time to move on.

Brees isn't going to make it easy to say goodbye. Because regardless of the candles on his birthday cake, the table is set for him to have one of the best seasons of his career in 2016.

Maybe the best.

For starters, let's dispense with the notion that Brees is too old to have such a season. Yes, his yardage numbers in 2015 were his worst since 2010. And, yes, he threw fewer touchdown passes in 2015 than he had in any season since 2007. He also missed a game for the first time since 2009.

However, to say that Brees' "down" 2015 was relative is an understatement. His 4,870 passing yards led the NFL. His 32 touchdown passes ranked seventh. His touchdown-to-interception differential was an impressive plus-21. And his passer rating of 101.0 ranked sixth among qualifying quarterbacks.

Is Brees much closer to the end of the line than the beginning? Well, duh. But as head coach Sean Payton told the NFL Network's Total Access (via Nick Shook of NFL.com), we haven't reached the end of the road just yet:

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At the stage he is in his career, it's a question that gets asked a lot. I have not seen -- there's not a rep, a play where I've noticed something different. I think it's a credit to, look, we know how he trains, his diet, everything in his day to prepare to play well at that position. I think it's really changed, we've seen a change and we're talking about a Manning or a Brady, a number of these guys at that position can play longer. I don't want to put a number on it because I have not seen the beginning or a tick down at all.

"

Frankly, it's a testament to just how prolific a quarterback Brees has been (his four 5,000-yard passing seasons are an NFL record) that he can throw for almost 4,900 yards in 15 games and people start asking what's wrong with him.

Maybe becoming the first player in league history to top 5,500 yards in a season will quiet the naysayers—because there's a real chance that could happen this year.

For starters, Brees might just have the best array of passing-game weapons at his disposal he's ever had. And that's saying something.

Young wideout Brandin Cooks exploded in his second NFL season a year ago, topping 1,100 yards on 84 catches. Per Pro Football Focus, Cooks was the seventh-most effective wideout in the NFL on targets of 20 yards or more. And Saints beat writer Nick Underhill of the Advocate thinks the 22-year-old has only scratched the surface of what he can do:

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I would set the floor at 1,200 yards. I think he could even flirt with 1,500 if he has a couple big games. I think that having other weapons like Michael Thomas and Coby Fleener should help open things up for him. Fleener is a guy that can draw safety help, and Cooks was almost unguardable last season against single-high coverage. If that remains true, Cooks should be freed up for a few more shot plays.

"

Thomas, the team's second-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft, was brought in as the heir to Marques Colston's role as the "big" receiver. Brees told Mike Triplett of ESPN.com back in June that the rookie has already made a favorable impression both on the practice field and in the film room:

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What I remember from film is that it’s like, "This guy is always open. How is he always open?" No matter what the route is. "Because there’s nothing real flashy about him. It’s just kind of smooth, steady. But here it is on that route, "Oh, he’s got two yards of separation. How did he do that? He kind of set the guy up, made it look like something else." So everything’s fluid, very smooth.

"

Then there's Fleener, inked in free agency to replace the production the team lost when Ben Watson signed with the Baltimore Ravens. Fleener didn't really live up to his draft slot while with the Indianapolis Colts, but Brees has shown time and time again an affinity for throwing to his tight end.

And sure enough, as Christopher Dabe of the Times-Picayune reported, Fleener drew rave reviews as one of Brees' favorite targets in OTAs:

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Time on task with a guy like that, the more time we have in this offense where he can understand the nuances and understand what I am thinking, and where I want him to be, and when I want him to be there, and when and where the ball is going to be thrown — that's when you really start cooking, That's when you feel like a guy is uncoverable. I don't care who is on him. He's 6-5 or 6-6, there is a place where I can throw the ball where he can get it or nobody can.

"

Given the career numbers (and then some) Watson put up last year, it's fair to question just how much of Jimmy Graham's dominance in New Orleans was a direct result of his quarterback. A quarterback who is about to make Fleener look good in 2016.

And vice versa.

A vertical threat in Cooks. A physical receiver over the middle in Fleener. And a lanky red-zone threat in Thomas. Brees has already put up 5,000-yard seasons with less talent than that at his disposal.

And that's without even mentioning second-year pro Willie Snead, who averaged more than 14 yards a catch and came within a hair of 1,000 yards as a rookie in 2015. It's a young group to be sure, but Brees told the Advocate's Joel Erickson that's just fine with him:

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I am not worried about the inexperience, if you are just talking about years and games played. I feel like the time on task between all of us is pretty significant when you are talking about the practice reps and the time that we spend away from this facility together. I think they’re quick studies; they’re all hard-working guys that are very smart, intelligent, and hungry.

"

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

There's more. Tailback Mark Ingram caught nearly as many passes in 2015 (50) as he did in his first four NFL seasons combined, gaining over 1,100 total yards.

Brees should have time to survey the field as well. PFF's Nathan Jahnke ranked the New Orleans offensive front inside the league's top 10 entering 2016:

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The Saints have the potential to have one of the better O-lines in 2016—if everything goes right. Terron Armstead was tied for the second-best pass-blocking efficiency among OTs last year, center Max Unger had his best season since 2009 in terms of pass-blocking (though his run-blocking didn’t live up to its reputation), and Andrus Peat is expected to improve after an average rookie campaign. Strief, at his best, was among the best right tackles in the league, but over the last two seasons, has declined to just an above-average tackle. If everything goes right, this can be a top-three line.

"

It's all there. The receivers. The run game. The protection. All the ingredients for a huge year.

Which is good, because if the Saints are going anywhere as a team in 2016, Brees is going to have to carry them—again.

Part of the reason for some of Brees' biggest seasons was necessity. The Saints had to outscore opponents, because their defense had just about as much luck as said opponents did slowing down Brees.

The Saints were one of three NFL teams that surrendered more than 400 yards a game last year. Only the New York Giants allowed more. And New Orleans didn't have the cap space to go on a defensive spending spree like the G-Men.

If new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen does a great job, the Saints might be average defensively.

That means shootouts.

Frankly, the Saints' odds of making real noise in the playoffs in 2016 aren't good for that reason. It's the same reason Brees and Payton only won one Super Bowl together, in a year where the defense piled up 39 takeaways.

And if New Orleans has another so-so season, the chatter will start anew. That the significant resources the Saints have invested in Brees would be better spent on building a team. But walking away from the most popular player in team history is going to be an awfully hard sell.

Especially after Brees sets a new passing yardage record this season.

Consider the shot...called.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.