Records Drew Brees could break in upcoming 2020 season

Drew Brees is returning for the 2020 season, and unlike past seasons, there isn’t exactly a slew of passing records he could break heading into next year. It calls to mind a famous (mis)quote about Alexander The Great from Plutarch, that states: “...he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.”

Brees, of course, doesn’t feel that way heading into this year. The ultimate goal is, as always, a Super Bowl. The Saints have been knocked out of the playoffs in devastating fashion the past two years, despite two of the more illustrious (and efficient) seasons of Brees’ career. With that in mind, 2020 has some revenge tour vibes, particularly with the Saints hosting the Vikings at some point in the year.

2020 isn’t bereft of potential records for Brees to make, of course. The most notable one will likely be broken in Week 1. Brees is just eight passes away from tying Brett Favre’s attempts record of 10,169. As he already holds records for completions, touchdown passes and yards, it’s only fitting he complete the quad-fecta of volume stats.

A lot of Brees’s other potential records are more milestones. At 77,416 passing yards, Brees will very likely hit 80,000 depending on if he can stay healthy. He still had 2,979 last season despite missing five games due to injury, so 2,584 is a reasonable number to think he can reach. He’s also three TD passes away from 550, and 133 completions away from 7,000.

Another interesting race to look at could be to see if Brees hits another white whale: A 75 percent completion percentage. He’s been a touch over 74 percent the past two seasons, but as this number could be completely different this year, it’s something to check in on later in the season.

One other, more obscure, milestone we might see Brees hit is 4,000 first down completions. He’s currently sitting at 3,838 and he had 159 last year. It’s completely doable, with the caveat that he stays healthy.

Ultimately, Brees is chasing one (maybe two) immortalizations this year. He wants to win a Super Bowl, and he’d probably like one MVP before hanging up the cleats. While the latter is unlikely — Efficiency isn’t necessarily the metric AP MVP voters look for — the former is attainable for the Saints.

Brees coming back for another season is a clear sign that he thinks the Saints have what it takes to finally close the deal on a second Super Bowl. The QB of the future talks are going to have to wait for the time being, because to Brees, there’s another world to conquer yet.