The transfer portal has completely changed how college football operates as a whole. And in the eyes of NFL legend Drew Brees, it also may result in watered-down quarterback play in the NFL.
In a recent conversation with The Athletic, Brees offered his complaints about the transfer portal, detailing that he believes that it doesn’t allow for young players to grow.
“I know we live in a really interesting time in the world of college football right now,” Brees said. “And I’ll be the first one to tell you that something needs to be done about all of this NIL and (the) transfer portal. It’s not good for the game. It’s not good for it. It really takes away the purity of what it should be about, which is building these programs, right? And giving these young men who enter (college) at age 18 the opportunity to grow, to develop.
“I mean, college football should be as much about leadership and character development as it is learning the Xs and Os in football and preparing guys to hopefully have an opportunity to go and play at the next level. So, the fact that guys are just jumping ship and guys are getting paid … and there’s tampering left and right — like, it’s bad, bad for the game.”
One player that Brees believes has done it right thus far in his collegiate career is Texas quarterback Arch Manning, who decided to stay for his redshirt freshman year and learn behind Quinn Ewers as the backup. Brees further encouraged Manning to stay at Texas throughout the duration of his eligibility in college to further enhance his development for the NFL one day.
“The best thing for Arch Manning is to spend five years at the University of Texas,” Brees added. “I’ll pause and let everybody just absorb that.”
Ultimately, we truly won’t know whether Manning’s decision to stay at Texas will end up being a positive one until we see him play significant snaps on the field one day. But clearly, Brees is in favor of Manning taking the old-school approach and earning his playing time.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.