re: Manning is the greatest free agent pick up in NFL history

Manning joined a good team and made them great. He also joined a historically very, very good franchise and led them to even more success. Still, he was a VERY small part of Denver's success this season and last night. In fact, he had the worst statistical season of any super bowl starting QB. He had 9 TDs on the year and 17 INTs. Only twice all season did he throw for more TDs than INTs in a game.

On the other hand, Brees joined a historically bad franchise and brought them to heights never seen before. He joined a team that the year prior was the 2nd worst in the NFL. That was on top of the fact that the city in which the team was located was barely functional. In one year he led a franchise that in the previous ~40 years had only 1 playoff win to the NFC Championship. 3 years later he won the Super Bowl

The Saints have 10 playoff appearances in their entire history. Brees is responsible for half of those

The Saints have 7 playoff wins, EVER. Brees is responsible for 6

The Saints have had only 10 winning seasons in their history. Brees has 5 of those.

Maybe some on here are too young to remember just how historically bad the Saints franchise was prior to Brees. He's accomplished in 10 years more than the franchise accomplished in the previous 40