The rebirth of Drew Brees as an NFL analyst continues.
One year after resurfacing with a viral appearance on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown and as a game analyst for the international feed on Netflix’s NFL Christmas GameDay, the legendary quarterback is on the board with another big opportunity.
According to Andrew Marchand at The Athletic, Brees will return to the Netflix broadcast booth this winter. Instead of being on the call solely for international audiences, Brees is getting promoted to the U.S. feed.
It will be Brees’ first time back calling a game since an ill-fated season at NBC Sports, which was capped off by a playoff game that was roundly panned. Brees may not have been ready to call the biggest games then, but Netflix clearly believes he has the talent to be a strong analyst going forward.
For months, Brees has been making a case for himself to return as a candidate for top color commentary jobs once more. Netflix, which could very well be a bidder for a bigger NFL package in the coming years, may be the company to give him that chance.
Netflix will air a doubleheader on Christmas Day this year. Brees will call either the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Commanders or the Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings, two tasty divisional games likely with significant implications for the postseason.
In the report, The Athletic also notes that Nate Burleson is expected to return to the Netflix booth for a second consecutive Christmas. However, the streamer continues to swim upstream in its attempts to land marquee talent for its NFL games as current rightsholders increasingly see Netflix as competition.
That would seem to leave Netflix with limited options to fill out its broadcast team. Burleson works for CBS, which is co-producing the games for Netflix and, therefore, is likely more lenient on sharing talent. But the Drew Brees move, coupled with outside-the-box deals with analysts like Manti Te’o, Robert Griffin III, and Scott Hanson last year, showed that Netflix isn’t afraid to forge its own path.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.