NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - At long last, the Drew Brees' era has come to a rather quick but painful end in Tennessee, as news broke Sunday that he has been traded to the Cleveland Browns for the third overall pick in the 2004 SFL draft. Brees only played a little more than one season for the Titans (at least as a starter), but he has been the subject of more breaking news stories and controversies than any other player in the short history of the SFL, culminating in what can only be considered the most fitting end to this surreal dramedy - the league naming a new rule after him and because of him. So just how did we end up here? Well, let's start from the beginning.
On July 12th, 2019 it was announced that the Tennessee Titans and San Diego Chargers had agreed to terms in a massive deal that would send Drew Brees to Nashville in the original SFL blockbuster that set this whole fiasco in motion. When the terms of the agreement finally came to light, the football world learned that the Titans had paid a kings ransom for the young quarterbacks services, to the tune of All-Pro defensive end Jeveon Kearse, two 1st round picks, a 2nd round pick, and two 3rd round picks. While the Titans had just traded their franchise quarterback Steve McNair for two of those picks a day earlier, the move still cost them Kearse, McNair, and their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round draft picks. It was a haul for sure, but most around the league were just jealous that the Titans were able to acquire Brees at all. While some GMs inherited the likes of young superstars Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, many others were left with Tim Couch or Quincy Carter. At just 23 years old, Brees was the next big thing - already well on his way to cracking the upper echelon of quarterbacks by the ripe age of 25. Although depleted of capital, the Titans hatched a plan, executed it, and had solved the biggest piece of this whole puzzle by acquiring their franchise signal caller for the next decade plus. Even if their wallet was hurting, everyone was feeling pretty good in Tennessee.
But then they started playing the games. Things weren't so bad initially - they were great, in fact. Brees posted a QB rating of 90+ in his first three outings as the Titans went 2-1. But he wouldn't reach that metric again until Week 15, against the bottom-dwelling Houston Texans. And while Brees was usually far from terrible, he was never really great either. The real problem was that when he was bad, he was awful. In a five game stretch spanning weeks 4 through 8, Brees threw just 4 TDs compared to 15 inteceptions, capped off by a historically bad performance against his former team in which he completed 8/27 passes (29%) while tossing six picks. The Titans lost the game by three points. And when the Titans really needed Brees to step up - playing 2/4 of their final games against the division rival Colts with a playoff spot hanging on the balance - Brees completed just 35% of his passes in both games which Tennessee lost by a combined 40 points. He finished the season with a 67.7 quarterback rating, throwing an even 21 touchdowns to 21 interceptions.
Fast forward to 2003 - the Titans again get off to a good start, beating the Oakland Raiders 24-10 in their Week 1 match-up. Brees was the definition of average, completing 50% of his passes and throwing 2 touchdowns and 2 picks each, but the Titans won the game. They would only win once more the entire rest of the season en route to earning the first overall pick. The turning point was week two against the Indianapolis Colts, who were about to embarrass Drew Brees and the Titans for the third time in six games going back to the 2002 season, to the tune of a 59-12 drubbing. Peyton Manning passed for 471 yards and 6 TDs, while Drew Brees attempted 44 passes for 213 yards, 0 TDs, and 2 interceptions. Despite the beating at the hands of their division overlords, the Titans soldiered on only to get blown out by the Saints on their own turf. The stat line from Brees? 12/29, 134 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 INTs, good for a 50.1 quarterback rating. He would not suit up again for the Tennessee Titans.
Instead, it was now the Koy Detmer era in Tennessee. And then it was the Jason Gesser era, which led to the Anthony Wright era. Even K Joe Nedney threw a couple of passes for the Titans that season - he would finish the year with a better quarterback rating than Brees. Really, it was simply the tank era in Nashville. The Titans had hatched a new plan, and the only goal was losing - no matter the cost. The young and once promising star quarterback sat and watched from the sidelines as a slew of wannabe and has-beens led the Titans to a 1-12 finish. As did Eddie George, Derrick Mason, Kevin Dyson, Frank Wycheck, and anyone else on the team who had at least a modicum of talent. In true Titan(ic) fashion, the 2003 team was being steered straight into an iceberg.
And so the complaints began, followed by the debates. Was this fair? Was it realistic? Should it be allowed, or should it be shut down. Should Gary lose his team? Better yet - should be be kicked out of the league? The grumbles became so loud that commissioner William Cook eventually had to issue a statement to the league stating that what the Titans were doing was perfectly within the limits of the current league rules, and that no action would be taken against them this season. However, the topic was opened up for discussion to the league as a whole for how to address this issue in the future. Most agreed that something should be done to prevent it.
Which brings us to today - February 16th, 2020 - when the details of the Commissioner's Executive Order 2004.1 -or the "Brees" rule for short - as well as the terms of the finalized deal that will make Brees a Cleveland Brown, were announced just hours apart.
The Brees rule takes aim at actions "detrimental to the long-term success of the league." The rule will entail the creation of a "Fair Play Committee," to be constructed of rotating members of every division in the league, which will handle all future complaints - and debates - and decide on any appropriate punishments for future deliberate tanking.
As for the trade with the Browns, the Titans will receive the third pick in the draft and a third round pick in exchange for Brees and a fourth round pick. It's a far cry from the haul they gave up for Brees originally, especially considering he's still just 25 years of age and safely within the top fifteen quarterback conversation (age notwithstanding), on paper at least. Many have already lauded the Browns for landing a steal in Brees.
So was this the right move for the Titans, or was it an overreaction to getting humiliated by one of the very best teams in the league before they were quite ready for prime time? The whole allure of Brees in the first place was always his upside - he was way ahead of the curve for his age and was sure to be an elite quarterback
in a few seasons. It almost seems as if, after trading their experienced, veteran quarterback, the Titans were expecting greatness from Brees from day one. But Brees wasn't great yet - he was still learning - and that requires patience. Sure, Brees had his fair share of absolutely miserable outings. But what developing quarterback doesn't? If you take out the outliers from his 2002 season, he would finish with 17 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions - far better than his final numbers would indicate. And while you can't just throw those games out while keeping his best performances, you can expect that those kinds of showings would become less and less frequent as the young signal caller developed.
As it stands today, the Titans have the first and third overall picks in the upcoming draft. They undoubtedly will take a quarterback with one of those picks, and they even turned heads when they suggested that they may take a quarterback with both of those picks, which would undoubtedly put them in a league of their own when it comes to resources invested in the quarterback position in just two seasons (they probably are already). No mater what happens, the quarterback play of whoever is atop the Tennessee Titans depth chart combined with the patience of those pulling the strings from headquarters in Nashville will be one of the most fascinating story lines to follow in 2004. But don't get about that Brees guy, either - he's had a pretty interested start to his career.
