Drew Brees - Free Agent

[maddog60]

I actually like Brees, but I think SD should go with Rivers. He'll take his bumps, but with Brees coming off an injury to his throwing shoulder and being 29-30 yrs old why not just move on? Brees has a good 4-5 years left in him, but you just can't continue to let a high priced first round draft pick stand on the sidelines with no real timeline of when he'll see real action. This gives SD the perfect out to let Brees go to another team and go with their young gun.

Lets get some things correct here:

Brees is 27. He's in his prime and has more like a 7 years or so left in him.

The Chargers are in a fine cap situation. They've got plenty of room to resign Brees and keep Rivers.

You can continue to let a 1st rounder sit on the sideline, when you've got a proven commodity on the field. The best case scenario with Rivers is that he plays as well as Brees. Chances are even if Rivers is any good, Rivers will set them back from making a serious superbowl run by 1-2 year. LT is in his prime, Gates is dominating the TE world, Lorenzo Neal may not play much longer, Donnie Edwards may only have a few years of great play left in him, the time for the Chargers to seriously compete is now.

[mysticphysh]

My bad, I thought I read somewhere he was 29....well, at 27, that does change my view. They can keep Brees, but seriously how long can they keep Rivers on the bench? How long will he allow them to before he starts making a stink?

[chaindog35]

My main reason for SD to keep Brees is if they want to win now. the window of opportunity to win it all is very small in the NFL. LT only has a few prime years left in him. He'll be 27 next season and will probably be in his prime for 2-3 more years and then will have a couple decent years after that. Personally, i would want to keep brees and take my shot at winning it all with LT in his prime, rather than having a young qb take time to develop.

[maddog60]

My bad, I thought I read somewhere he was 29....well, at 27, that does change my view. They can keep Brees, but seriously how long can they keep Rivers on the bench? How long will he allow them to before he starts making a stink?

Oh, I totally agree Rivers on the bench is a waste. I say trade him, if you can even get a high 2nd rounder for him, there should be a quality pick available that they can use to bolster their starting roster.

[bagobonez]

My bad, I thought I read somewhere he was 29....well, at 27, that does change my view. They can keep Brees, but seriously how long can they keep Rivers on the bench? How long will he allow them to before he starts making a stink?

Oh, I totally agree Rivers on the bench is a waste. I say trade him, if you can even get a high 2nd rounder for him, there should be a quality pick available that they can use to bolster their starting roster.

As well as free up some cap space, although they will take a hit at the same time.

[Mercer Boy]

My main reason for SD to keep Brees is if they want to win now. the window of opportunity to win it all is very small in the NFL. LT only has a few prime years left in him. He'll be 27 next season and will probably be in his prime for 2-3 more years and then will have a couple decent years after that. Personally, i would want to keep brees and take my shot at winning it all with LT in his prime, rather than having a young qb take time to develop.

Agreed! If they go thrusting a new QB into an offense that has been working great for two years they run the risk of ruining team chemistry, not to mention the time it'll take Rivers to mature in game situations. They are stuck in a bind though since Brees is hurt.

This isn't like Pittsburgh where they had no other option but to use Roethlisberger because everyone else was sub-par...the Chargers have a very capable QB that has proved to be pretty stable and smart with the football. Steve Young waited a long time to become the man in SF...why can't Rivers?

[MadScott]

My main reason for SD to keep Brees is if they want to win now. the window of opportunity to win it all is very small in the NFL. LT only has a few prime years left in him. He'll be 27 next season and will probably be in his prime for 2-3 more years and then will have a couple decent years after that. Personally, i would want to keep brees and take my shot at winning it all with LT in his prime, rather than having a young qb take time to develop.

Definitely agree here. No way that Rivers is able to step in this year and be as productive as a healthy Brees would be in that offense, he simply doesn't have the experience.

I don't know about everyone else, but Miami seems like it would be the perfect fit for Brees. Similar situation as to what he's currently in, better WRs, a touch worse at RB/TE but overall a very serviceable team with an above average defense.

[goleafsgo96]

This chargers fan would be extremely dissapointed if rivers or anyone else other than brees is under center next year. Heres my view:

We draft drew, then receive a couple bad years from him. thats normal, then when put under pressure of his job, he has a huge breakout season. that does not happen so often, and when the guy follows that season up with another very strong one, its obvious ou have an all star QB. Why let him go now? the chargers were a young team this year, and i think we can all agree that just by bringing the same starting lineup back, thye could easily be stronger than they were 2 years ago. I would consider them a legit contender next year if brees sticks around// why would you want to change that? seems silly to me.

[Tiki]

I would love to see Brees in MN. He could use Nasty Nate and crew, very well I bet. Thatd be sweet.

[moochman]

This chargers fan would be extremely dissapointed if rivers or anyone else other than brees is under center next year. Heres my view:

We draft drew, then receive a couple bad years from him. thats normal, then when put under pressure of his job, he has a huge breakout season. that does not happen so often, and when the guy follows that season up with another very strong one, its obvious ou have an all star QB. Why let him go now? the chargers were a young team this year, and i think we can all agree that just by bringing the same starting lineup back, thye could easily be stronger than they were 2 years ago. I would consider them a legit contender next year if brees sticks around// why would you want to change that? seems silly to me.

The reasons why you'd get rid of Brees are that there are concerns over his injury. He hasn't proven that he can return to form, so there is an element of risk. Then you have Rivers, who has been paid $14.5 mil (thank you killiansjmd) of his contract and will have to be paid again in a couple seasons.
This sets up a real problem for the Chargers, if they feel Rivers is capable then why would they keep Brees. If they feel Brees is the answer, how can they keep Rivers knowing that another big payday will be upcoming for a player who has yet to earn his contract. Ideally, Brees would have never gotten injured then they could just trade Rivers, but now there is just enough questions about Brees to make it an issue.