Sean Payton calls out Nick Saban over ex-Dolphins HC's Drew Brees pursuit story

Drew Brees left the Los Angeles Chargers as a free agent in 2006, joined the New Orleans Saints, and embarked on an incredible 15-year stint with the franchise. While the quarterback is best remembered for his time in Louisiana, the Saints weren't his first choice after his exit from the Chargers.

He had initially planned on joining the Miami Dolphins and teaming up with head coach Nick Saban, who was entering his second season with the franchise. The deal was seemingly close but a physical examination halted the deal. The quarterback had torn his labrum in the Chargers' Week 17 clash against the Denver Broncos and the medical staff in Miami believed he'd never fully recover from the ailment.

Saban called Brees' agent Tom Condon and informed him that team doctors had advised him to steer clear of signing his client due to his shoulder injury. In response, he asked a favor from the head coach. Saban recalled what transpired during an appearance on The Pivot Podcast.

"I actually had to call his agent and say we had a deal, but he didn’t pass the physical," Saban said. "And he said ‘Oh man Nick, you can’t tell people he didn’t pass the physical, I’ll never get him signed anyplace.’ And I said nobody will know, how much time do you need, he said like 72 hours, so I never told anybody. Nobody knew for 72 hours, until he signed in New Orleans.”

The retired head coach suggested that he did Brees a favor by not disclosing the extent of his shoulder injury. However, Sean Payton, who was the Saints' head coach at the time, responded to Saban on X, claiming he left out a few critical details from the story.

"A little bit missing in this piece..." Payton wrote on X.

---

Dolphins reportedly asked Drew Brees to reduce salary demand

While Nick Saban claims that the Dolphins decided to pass on Drew Brees on the team doctors' recommendation, multiple reports from 2006 suggest that the franchise did offer the quarterback a deal. However, it was a lowball offer and paled in comparison to the six-year, $60 million contract that the Saints were willing to hand him.

Brees moved to New Orleans while Miami traded a second-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for Daunte Culpepper, who had suffered a severe knee injury in the 2005 season. The former would go on to have a Hall of Famer career with the Saints and the latter played only four games for the Dolphins.

Sean Payton was seemingly alluding with his response on X that Miami didn't pass on Brees. Instead, the quarterback seemingly rejected their underwhelming offer and opted to join New Orleans. Regardless of what the truth is, if Saban and the Dolphins could turn back the clock, they would gladly sign the quarterback, regardless of what the team doctors recommended.