Sean Payton announced the end of his 15-year head coaching career with the New Orleans Saints. He held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to break the news. During it, he also gave the public more information on the rumors that Drew Brees was coming out of retirement.

Ahead of the Saints' Week 16 game against the Miami Dolphins, they were dealt a hefty amount of injuries and COVID-19 cases. This included backup quarterback (made starting quarterback in the absence of Jameis Winston) Taysom Hill and third-string quarterback Trevor Siemian.

In light of this, the Saints asked retired quarterbacks Drew Brees and Philip Rivers to suit up for the late December game. Rivers kindly passed, while the Saints Super Bowl champion passed up the offer with an image of him golfing, enjoying his retirement.

In his farewell press conference, Payton said “it was best he didn't come” considering the amount of holes the Saints had in their roster that week. Pro Football Focus reporter Ari Meirov tweeted the news Tuesday afternoon.

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JC Latham (Alabama), Chris Braswell (Alabama not Jaguars), Cornelieus Johnson (Michigan) in action behind a New Orleans Saints logo with a 2024 NFL Draft background.

Dylan Bruton ·

Payton is probably right. The Saints were forced to play Week 16 with a patchwork offensive line. New Orleans fourth-string quarterback Ian Book suited up and was sacked eight times as a result of the depleted roster. Golfing and enjoying retirement sounds like a much better time than being sacked by NFL defensemen eight times. Brees definitely made the right decision.