With Peyton Manning expected to officially announce his retirement on Monday, we can say Peyton's career ended with him the All-Time Passing Leader with most yards and most passing touchdowns. If New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees wants those records for his own, he needs to have
Peyton Manning officially retired at age 39, turning 40 on March 24, just a couple weeks past his retirement. Drew Brees turned 37 in January, so Drew could play two to three more years (depending on how you want to look at it) to retire at the same point in his career as Peyton.
Peyton finished his career with 71,940 passing yards. Brees is number 4 at 61,361, behind two retired players: Brett Favre and Dan Marino. Drew would have to average 5,290 yards over the next two seasons, a total second only to when Drew Brees broke Dan Marino's single-season passing record and led the league in passing in 2011 with 5,476. If Drew can stay healthy and play three seasons, he would only need to average 3,527 yards per season, a career-low for Drew in New Orleans, and his lowest total since Drew's 2004 season with the San Diego Chargers.
Another way to look at Drew's potential numbers for the next three years is to look at the career of Peyton himself. Heading into the 2013 season, Peyton was 37 years old, the same age Drew is heading into the 2016 season. Over the course of the next three years before his retirement (including a season where he broke Drew's NFL single-season passing record and his final season where he played in only ten games - and was mediocre at best during those games), Peyton amassed 12,453 yards. If we tack that on to Drew's career right now, he would be well beyond Peyton's total and would now be the NFL's All-Time Leading Passer.
Peyton Manning also retired atop the All-Time Leaderboard in Passing Touchdowns with 539. Drew Brees sits tied for third with New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady with 428, behind number 2, Brett Favre. Over two years, Drew would need to throw for 56 touchdowns per year, a total he has never come close to reaching, his single-season high being 46, also occurring in 2011. Over three years, he would need 37 touchdowns per year, which would be his highest total since 2011. Peyton accumulated 103 touchdowns over his final three years, and if we add that to Drew's current career, he would finish just shy of the All-Time record with "only" 531.
In Passing Touchdowns, Tom Brady is neck-and-neck with Drew, and in Passing Yards, Brady is almost a full 3,000 yards lower. Brees is five months younger than Brady, so if we are using aged seasons as our guide, Brady is a non-factor in both categories. It would not be surprising, though, to see Brady overtake Drew for third place by himself in Passing Touchdowns by the end of the 2016 season.
If Drew can stay healthy three more years, and put up numbers even close to what we know he can do, Drew just might find himself atop two of the most important statistical categories for an NFL quarterback.