Report: Broncos assistants reached out to Drew Brees before AFC Title Game

The Denver Broncos started Jarrett Stidham in the AFC Title Game last season after Bo Nix fractured his ankle.

It didn’t go well, a 10-7 loss to the Patriots that sent New England to the Super Bowl.

But in a different universe could Denver’s QB on that snowy Sunday have been Hall of Famer Drew Brees? According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the answer is yes.

ESPN sources: Hall-of-Fame QB Drew Brees mulled playing for the Denver Broncos in last season’s AFC Championship game.https://t.co/SfsBCUPjLz

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 14, 2026

Schefter broke the news on ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame show about 40 minutes before the Broncos and Chiefs began the 2026 season.

But it wasn’t Denver head coach Sean Payton who reached out to Brees, it was Broncos assistants Joe Lombardi and Pete Carmichael. Lombardi has since been fired as offensive coordinator, replaced by Davis Webb. Carmichael is now the OC in Buffalo.

According to Schefter, the duo asked Brees for his thoughts about coming out of retirement. The 47-year-old Brees worked out and gave it a shot, but he “found discomfort in his wrist and nixed the idea that would have become one of the most improbable returns in NFL history, according to sources.”

Brees retired in March of 2021, so this would’ve been an insane comeback. His body didn’t cooperate, but he didn’t immediately say “no” to the idea.

And per Schefter, Payton was kept out of the loop on the plan.

“Lombardi and Carmichael did not include Payton nor inform him about their initial conversations with Brees. The assistant coaches first wanted to see if Brees was willing to return to the NFL to help Denver try to reach the Super Bowl before informing Payton,” Schefter wrote.

Schefter describes Payton as both “fascinated and flabbergasted,” by the idea. He thought this was in reference to a 2021 COVID situation, not an AFC Championship Game nearly five years later.

If Brees had indeed signed in Denver, the Broncos would’ve figured out whether to start him or Stidham, according to Schefter.

Instead it’s a moot point. Brees’ wrist wasn’t up for the task and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last month, with Payton serving as his presenter.

Broncos Country can only wonder “what if?” — because even Brees had been rusty, he might not have been worse than Stidham with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

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