Drew Brees owns some impressive NFL records — and he’s not done yet

Drew Brees has been a highly efficient quarterback since he first entered the league in 2001. He also happens to be pretty good! So good, in fact, that he cemented his place among the game’s greatest quarterbacks and has some gaudy records attached to his Hall of Fame career.

Despite his first major injury setback in 2019 — he missed five games after thumb surgery — Brees is still functioning as an elite player at 40 years old. He could easily add a few more to his name before calling it quits ... whenever he decides to do that.

Here’s a look at some of the records Brees owns and which he has a chance to break before he calls it a career.

In 2018, Brees became just the fourth player in NFL history with 500 touchdown passes in his career. In 2019, he tied Peyton Manning’s record of 539 with a 21-yard strike to Tre’Quan Smith in Week 15 against the Colts. Brees took over the record with touchdown No. 540 later in the same game on a short pass to tight end Josh Hill:

Brees ended the 2019 regular season with 547 career touchdowns.

Tom Brady is neck-and-neck with Brees for the passing touchdowns, though. Brady currently has 541 and is gunning for the record himself:

That wasn’t even Brees’ only record of the night.

In the same game that Brees claimed the all-time touchdown record, he also completed 29 of his 30 passes. That 96.7 completion percentage is the most efficient any quarterback has ever been in a game.

It was one completion better than the previous mark held by Philip Rivers, who completed 28 of 29 passes against the Cardinals in a game during the 2018 season.

Heading into a Week 5 game against Washington in 2018, Brees only needed to throw for 201 more yards to vault past Peyton Manning as the all-time leading passer in NFL history. He hit that mark in the second quarter with a 62-yard touchdown pass to, once again, Tre’Quan Smith in the Saints’ 43-19 blowout win.

For the game, Brees threw for 363 yards, putting him at 72,103 yards for his career at that point. He only continues to add to that number and currently has 77,416.

Brees jumped to No. 1 just three years after Manning broke Brett Favre’s career passing yards record. With quarterbacks throwing more than ever in today’s NFL, the record could keep falling — especially as the career longevity of quarterbacks is in increasing. Tom Brady, who holds a long list of his own records, is already in his 40s and now so is Brees.

But no matter how long they stand, we can still appreciate the feats Brees has accomplished in his illustrious career. Even Manning, who congratulated Brees for becoming the new all-time passing leader, said Brees “deserves” to break his records.

Brees finished 2018 with the highest completion percentage ever in a season. He completed 74.4 percent of his passes, breaking his own record of 72 percent that he set the year before. There’s no fluff in that number either — Brees averaged 8.2 yards per attempt in 2018. He came up just short of the record in 2019, completing 74.3 percent.

The Baltimore Ravens were the final NFL franchise that Brees did not have a win against in his career. He was 0-4 against the Ravens until 2018, when the Saints won a Week 7 matchup, 24-23. Now, Brees has a win over all 32 current teams. Brett Favre and Peyton Manning are the only other quarterbacks who have beaten every team.

Including the playoffs, Brees threw 36 touchdowns. A record number of those went to undrafted free agents:

Those nine players caught 12 touchdowns from Brees. They included Keith Kirkwood (3), Zach Line (2), Austin Carr (2), Tommylee Lewis (1), Josh Hill (1), Dan Arnold (1), Cameron Meredith (1), Taysom Hill (1), and Garrett Griffin (1).

Through the 2019 regular season, he’s completed 67.6 percent of his passes in his career. No matter who he’s had at receiver, running back, and tight end, Brees finds a way to get the job done. Completion percentage isn’t the best stat to use when looking at quarterback skill (Kirk Cousins at 67 percent and Chad Pennington at 66 percent are second and third on the list), but completing that many passes while inching toward the all-time attempts mark is nuts.

Each season from 2010-16, Brees threw for at least 4,500 yards. Even in today’s pass-heavy game, that is still a major benchmark. In 2018, there were five quarterbacks who hit 4,500 yards. In 2017 and 2016, there were five combined. Brees did it seven times in a row. God-tier status.

In 2011, Brees averaged 342.3 yards. That ties Peyton Manning in 2013 for the highest mark in a season. Brees’ 2011 season was one for the ages. He threw for an incredible 5,476 yards, which was the single-season record until Peyton Manning threw for 5,477 yards in 2013. In that season Brees completed 71.2 percent of his passes, threw 46 touchdowns, and had just 14 interceptions. That’s pretty good!