Brees gives Saints good news, but the off-season remains complicated

Drew Brees is coming back.

The most productive passer in NFL history said on Instagram on Tuesday that he plans to play a 20th NFL season, his 15th with the Saints, in 2020.

That’s good news for New Orleans.

His return to the Saints is not in writing because he is scheduled to become a free agent on March 18 but it seems a foregone conclusion that he and the organization will have little trouble coming to terms.

Brees’ return was the least certain that it has ever been after he said last month that, although he wouldn’t play for any team other than the Saints, retirement was for the first time a viable option. He turned 41 last month.

Whatever Brees decided was always going to have a trickle-down effect on New Orleans’ other two quarterbacks – Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill, both of whom also played under expiring contracts last season.

Bridgewater will be an unrestricted free agent and Hill will be a restricted free agent. Brees’ return likely means Bridgewater will not be his ultimate successor and though Hill’s chances of someday succeeding Brees go up marginally, they’re still probably south of 50-50.

The dark cloud hovering over this Saints off-season has vanished, but the skies are far from clear.

It has been a virtual certainty all along that salary-cap constraints and limited playing opportunities were going to be make it impossible for the Saints to re-sign all three quarterbacks.

The uncertainty was whether they could keep two of the three and which two those might be.

Bridgewater proved last season that he’s ready to once again be a successful starting quarterback in the NFL. He got his first extended opportunity since suffering a severe knee injury in the training camp after his Pro Bowl season of 2015.

It was still a limited opportunity, but Bridgewater helped guide New Orleans to a 5-0 record when he started while Brees recovered from thumb surgery. That performance had to make the Saints feel better about life after Brees – whenever that might come – as long as Bridgewater was the successor.

That performance also told the many NFL teams in need of an upgrade at quarterback that Bridgewater was a very viable option that was about to hit the free-agent market.

All other things being equal – meaning money and opportunity – it would figure that Bridgewater’s preference would be to stay in New Orleans after spending two seasons learning Sean Payton’s offense and gaining the confidence of his teammates.

But the chance to start and make starter’s money elsewhere would almost certainly drive Bridgewater from New Orleans if he had neither with the Saints.

Brees’ decision to return makes it virtually impossible for New Orleans to make an offer to Bridgewater that will entice him to spurn all other offers. The Saints would love for Bridgewater to one of their quarterbacks, but Bridgewater understandably wants to be someone’s No. 1 quarterback.

As much as the Saints and Bridgewater appreciate one another and would both like to extend their relationship, their needs no longer match one another.

Perhaps the market for Bridgewater won’t be as strong as it appears to be. Perhaps he will be satisfied taking less money on a one-year deal to stay in New Orleans and bide his time in case Brees retires after next season, which was the approach he took a year ago.

But it’s far more likely that Brees’ return will trigger Bridgewater’s departure.

Business is business and no one should be upset with Bridgewater for taking a better job offer nor should anyone be upset with the Saints for being unable to match that better offer.

And speaking of matching offers, the Saints have always had the upper hand with Hill because of the restrictions on his free agency.

But Hill’s situation remains complicated. Bridgewater was always next in line behind Brees, whether it was replacing him at the end of a blowout victory or stepping in as the starter because of injury or whether it was as his ultimate successor.

Hill’s value was not as the next starting quarterback for the Saints. It was a change-of-pace from Brees for a half dozen or more snaps per game, as a running back, as a fullback, as a wide receiver, as a tight end, as a special teams stalwart.

The expected departure of Bridgewater clears the way for Hill to become the No. 2 quarterback and perhaps eventual successor. But the Saints’ wants and needs for Hill might diverge from his wants and needs just as they are about to do with Bridgewater.

Hill can’t maintain or expand his current role while being potentially one play away from becoming the starting quarterback. This was made clear early last season when his non-quarterback role was scaled back while be backed up Bridgewater.

The Saints’ have significant playmakers in Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara and Jared Cook. They have useful pieces in Latavius Murray, Tre’Quan Smith and Josh Hill.

But the expansion of Taysom Hill’s role has been a result of not just his ability to expertly handle whatever chores he has been given, but also because the Saints are somewhat lacking in depth of explosive playmakers.

New Orleans is now recommitting to a 41-year-old quarterback who for the first time has seriously contemplated retirement, who for the first time with the Saints had a significant injury last season, who will continually become more dependent, not less, on the ball handlers around him.

The Saints can groom Taysom Hill to someday replace Brees. Or they can continue to expand his role to mitigate shortcomings elsewhere on the offense. They cannot do both.

Do they focus on upgrading their stable of runners and receivers so Hill can focus more on playing quarterback? Or do they continue to lean on Hill as a jack-of-all-trades and look outside for Brees’ ultimate successor, which would likely convince Hill that his long-term future is elsewhere.

Brees’ announcement was big news. And it was good news for the Saints.

But it was just the first domino it what remains a very complicated off-season.