Appearing Wednesday on WWL Radio’s “Sports Talk,” the New Orleans Saints quarterback hinted at possibly continuing his career until the age of 44 or 45.
“I know I can still play,” said Brees. “I know I could play another 3-4 years. I want to do it on my own terms.”
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Brees, who is coming off yet another disappointing playoff exit after leading the Saints to a third straight division title, will turn 41 this month. Though he missed time with a thumb injury, he still looked sharp in the 11 games he was active for this season, completing 74.3 percent of his passes for 2,979 yards and 27 touchdowns to just four interceptions.
The 13-time Pro Bowler will be a free agent this offseason, putting the Saints in a rather interesting position. While Brees will be entering his 20th NFL season in 2020, there has been nothing so far to suggest that he cannot maintain this level of play for a while longer.
Related slideshow: The most electric players in the NFL (Provided by Yardbarker)
The most electric players in the NFL
With offense at an all-time high in the NFL, plenty of electric players have emerged. Of course, "electric" can be tricky to define.It's certainly a subjective term. It's not exactly synonymous with "best," but there aren't any average "electric" players either. For our list, we defined it as players who are toughest to stop when they are at their very best (even if they aren't as consistent as others in the league).To spread the love, we didn't include two players from the same team on our list. Performance from the first five weeks of the 2019 season, and not previous seasons, also carried the most weight.With all of this in mind, here are the NFL's most electric players (in no particularly order):
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
In 22 NFL starts Mahomes has taken the phrase "video game-like" to a new level. The 2018 NFL MVP seems to accomplish something every week that's never been done previously. He's thrown for at least 300 yards in every game this season, and he's yet to throw an interception. Mahomes leads the NFL with 1,831 passing yards and 11 touchdowns.
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
If there's another quarterback in the league at the moment who can challenge Mahomes for the MVP Award, it's Wilson. He doesn't have enough attempts to stand a chance against Mahomes in the passing yards category, but Wilson leads the NFL with 12 passing touchdowns and zero picks. Wilson also has 120 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
He's been a little careless with the ball the last couple of weeks, but Jackson just about defines the term "electric" in today's NFL. The dual-threat quarterback became the fastest signal caller to 1,000 rushing yards in a career this year, and he has 11 passing touchdowns this season. Jackson has displayed strong accuracy with a 65.4 completion percentage and is averaging 7.8 yards per attempt.
Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers
It's really hard for a running back to win the NFL MVP in today's league, but through five weeks, McCaffrey appears capable of making a run at it this year. After an 0-2 start, McCaffrey has led the Panthers to three straight wins with a backup quarterback behind center. McCaffrey leads the NFL with 587 rushing yards, but he also has 31 receptions for 279 receiving yards. He's No. 1 in the league with 866 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns.
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
Michael Thomas certainly gave Kamara "a run for his money" as the Saints representative on this list, but Kamara is such a special weapon that he had to be the choice. He doesn't have a 100-yard rushing day yet, but he's accumulated 583 yards from scrimmage in five weeks. That puts him on pace for a career-high 1,865 yards from scrimmage in 2019. Kamara has 342 rushing yards, 241 receiving yards and two touchdowns this year.
Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings
Health has always been the biggest concern for the Vikings running back. Well, Cook is healthy early this season and he's been tremendous, rushing for 542 yards and five touchdowns in five games. He's also chipped in 21 receptions and 200 receiving yards. At this rate, Cook will set a new career-high in rushing this Sunday. He's averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
Chubb could make this list solely off his 88-yard touchdown run against the Ravens. His performance against Baltimore has been his only 100-yard game this season, but Chubb has still been the most steady electric player on the inconsistent Browns offense. The Browns running back has reached at least 75 rushing yards in every game but one, and he's averaging 5.2 yards per carry. He has 485 rushing yards and four touchdowns this season.
Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
Jones has struggled mightily this season, rushing for under 2.0 yards per carry in two games, but when he's on, he's a top five running back. In Week 5 against the Cowboys, Jones rushed for 107 yards and four touchdowns. He leads the league with eight touchdowns, which ties a career high, and despite a couple of poor games, Jones is on track to finish with 966 rushing yards.
Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars
After a little bit of a slow start, Fournette broke out with 225 rushing yards in Week 4 against the Denver Broncos. He followed up that performance with another 100-yard rushing day against the Carolina Panthers this past Sunday. Fournette appears to be back to his 2017 ways. There might not be a back in the league who is a more perfect blend of size and speed. He has 512 rushing yards and a touchdown through five games.
Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers
Every fantasy owner was concerned Ekeler wouldn't be as involved in the Chargers offense once Melvin Gordon reentered the starting lineup. Granted, Gordon isn't completely up to speed, but in his first game back, Ekeler still recorded 18 touches for 93 yards while posting a season-high 15 receptions. Ekeler is a unique talent, who's already tied his career best of 39 receptions in a season. He will continue to see touches, especially in the passing game, because he's one of the most electric players with the ball in the league.
Matt Breida, San Francisco 49ers
He's not a household name yet, but Breida has averaged a whopping 10 yards per carry in two different games already this season. Against the Browns on "Monday Night Football," he rushed for an 83-yard touchdown. Breida leads the league with 6.5 yards per carry. He has 340 rushing yards, 46 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
The Giants running back is currently dealing with an ankle injury, but he's such a major part of the Giants offense and one of the most exciting young players in the league, I still found him deserving of this list. He is averaging 6.4 yards per carry and 103.7 yards from scrimmage per game in 2019.
Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Evans has certainly been inconsistent this season. In Week 5 against the Saints, he was held without a catch on three targets, which is extremely rare today for a No. 1 receiver. But when he's on, Evans is one of the best wide receivers in the league. He's averaging 20.4 yards per catch, which is a career high, and he's on pace for his sixth straight 1,000-yard season.
Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys
Similar to Evans, Cooper can be inconsistent, especially with the Cowboys trying to involve all of their weapons early this season. But Cooper can also explode at any time. In Week 5, he did just that, recording 11 receptions for 226 yards and a touchdown against the Packers. Cooper has 32 catches, 512 yards and five touchdowns with a 16.0 yards per reception average this season.
Brandin Cooks, Los Angeles Rams
Everywhere he's played in his six-year career, Cooks has been a terrific deep threat. This season, he's not scoring as many touchdowns, but he has his second-best yards per catch average at 16.3. With Todd Gurley not quite the same explosive player he was, Cooks is the most electric Rams offensive weapon in 2019. He has 20 catches, 325 yards and a touchdown this season.
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