Report: Saints reached out to Brees about return on MNF vs. Dolphins

The New Orleans Saints tried a Hail Mary on Christmas, but it went unanswered.

In a desperate attempt to add quarterback depth for Monday's game against the Miami Dolphins, the Saints tried to lure franchise icon Drew Brees out of retirement, according to Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Brees spoke to head coach Sean Payton this week while vacationing with his family in Hawaii and seriously considered a return to the point that he threw some passes to test his arm, sources told Duncan. However, he ultimately declined the offer, in part because he wasn't confident he could get up to game speed on short notice. Brees also didn't want to return if he wasn't guaranteed to start Monday night, according to Duncan.

The 42-year-old retired this past March after throwing for 80,358 yards across 20 NFL seasons, 15 of those coming in New Orleans. He's now working as an analyst at NBC.

Brees wasn't the only recently retired signal-caller who spoke to the Saints this week. New Orleans also contacted Philip Rivers, who's now coaching high school football in Alabama, and longtime backup Josh McCown, whose last game appearance was in 2019, Duncan reports.

The Saints were left scrambling for a quarterback after they placed both Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian on the COVID-19 list Thursday. Hill and Siemian had split time under center following Jameis Winston's season-ending injury in Week 8. Rookie Ian Book will reportedly start Monday's game, with Blake Bortles - who New Orleans signed Friday - backing him up.

Despite all the quarterback uncertainty, the Saints are still within reach of the final NFC wild-card spot heading into Week 16.