NFL Rumors: Tom Brady was set to replace Drew Brees at Saints before joining Buccaneers

Tom Brady, the immortal quarterback currently in Tampa Bay Buccaneers colors, brought the Super Bowl to Tampa Bay in his very first season with the franchise. However, things could've been a lot different were it not for Drew Brees deciding that he had another year of football left in him.

ESPN's Jeff Darlington recently appeared on the ESPN Daily Podcast and dropped a piece of news that will leave New Orleans Saints fans wondering what could've been.

Darlington said on the podcast:

"I have to take you back to a time when Tom Brady had decided that he was leaving the New England Patriots, and the Tampa Bay Bucs were absolutely at the top of his list. But so too were another team, and that was the New Orleans Saints coached by Sean Payton. I don't think people give it credit enough how close Tom Brady was to playing with Sean Payton in New Orleans."

Back then, Drew Brees had a choice between riding off into the sunset or playing quarterback for the Saints for another season. Brees chose the latter option, delaying his foray into the world of sports broadcasting.

Darlington added:

"At one point, (Brees) walked into Sean Payton’s office and said, ‘I’m done. I’m retired.’ So, it was so close to Tom Brady ending up with the Saints and Sean Payton. Their relationship was established (during the 2020 offseason).”

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How would Tom Brady have done if he had joined the Saints?

As fate would have it, Tom Brady's Bucs ended up eliminating Brees' Saints in the NFC Divisional Round with a 30-20 win in what turned out to be Brees' final game in the league. The Saints icon had three interceptions in that game.

It's a tantalizing prospect, though, to imagine what Brady would've done with the weapons he would've had in the Big Easy.

Having Brady throw to wide receiver Michael Thomas with running back Alvin Kamara in tow would've been borderline illegal for the rest of the league, not to mention the offensive genius of coach Sean Payton.

Brady, however, did just fine in Tampa Bay, racking up his seventh Super Bowl and (not that he needed to) forever cementing his legacy as the greatest to ever do it in the NFL.

This season, Brady will enter the league as the oldest player on the field at 45. With Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Julio Jones in the fray, perhaps Brady will eclipse immortality this season and let the world know what lies beyond.