Sean Payton ‘never heard’ about Drew Brees’ comeback attempt with Broncos in playoffs

KANSAS CITY — Sean Payton said Monday night that he didn’t learn of an improbable Drew Brees comeback attempt until well after two Denver Broncos assistant coaches contacted the quarterback ahead of the AFC Championship Game in January.

Former Broncos assistants Joe Lombardi and Pete Carmichael reached out to the 47-year-old Brees to gauge whether he could come out of retirement to play quarterback for the Broncos after starter Bo Nix suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the divisional-round win against the Buffalo Bills.

“I just know that I was the odd man out,” Payton said after the Broncos suffered a 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday. “I never heard anything about it. It never came to anything. I was only told about it later, so I was just like you guys.”

No comeback ever materialized for Brees, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in July, with Payton presenting.

Payton said Tuesday he heard the story during the Hall of Fame weekend about Lombardi and Carmichael approaching Brees, but Payton thought they meant it happened during the 2020 season, when Brees missed four games due to injury.

“Even in the COVID season, when (Brees) and I discussed coming back for a Monday night game, he had trouble throwing (the football),” Payton said. “I don’t think really anything came of it. I think in Drew’s mind, there’s that competitor in him. So, I was kind of out of the loop.”

Brees worked out after being contacted by Lombardi and Carmichael, two of his former coaches with the Saints, to see whether his body was up to the enormous task. Wrist discomfort during that workout led Brees to pull the plug on the idea, according to ESPN.

The Broncos started backup Jarrett Stidham in Nix’s place during the conference title game and suffered a 10-7 loss to the New England Patriots. Payton fired Lombardi after the season, and Lombardi is now a senior offensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens. Carmichael left Denver in February to become the offensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills.

Brees and Payton spent 15 seasons together in New Orleans, leading the Saints to the franchise’s first Super Bowl title in 2009 and nine playoff appearances. In Brees’ final season in 2020, he suffered 11 fractured ribs and a collapsed lung, and in 2023, he revealed to ESPN that his right arm was in such bad shape that he could no longer make throws with it due to shoulder degeneration from previous injuries.