The Cincinnati Bengals officially announced the addition of QB Drew Brees Sunday. Brees was acquired in a trade with the New Orleans Saints for RB Gio Benard, WR Mohammed Sanu, CB Darqueze Denard and two draft picks (a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and 4[SUP]th[/SUP]). Brees, 36, gives the Bengals an upper-echelon QB – he was 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] in the NFL among QBs with a PFF grade of 32.6 and threw for 4,500+ yards for the fifth season in a row. More importantly, he has a history of success in the post season and has proven he can win in the Super Bowl, which is our end goal. “We liked these guys, but at the end of the day, we didn’t think they were anything more than good role players,” said Bengals GM Bdogtitan11. “With where we are as a franchise, and where we want to go, the objective isn’t to be good. It’s to be great. I think we took a step towards that today.” With production that can be rivaled by few others during his stellar career, Brees will have a supporting cast that far exceeds anything that he’s been surrounded by in the past. For the first time in his career, Brees has an elite WR in A.J. Green. On top of that, he has one of the game’s most promising young backs in Jeremy Hill and arguably the top line in the NFL, led by LT Andrew Whitworth (2[SUP]nd[/SUP] among LTs with a PFF grade of +36.8) The cost of acquiring one of the game’s best players at the most important position will always be steep, but the Bengals feel like they did not lose too much in their transaction with the Saints. Benard and Sanu each finished the year in the negative according to PFF, while the promising Denard had a disappointing rookie campaign after surrendering an average passer rating of 108.1. Cincinnati will continue its push to go from a perennial playoff team to a legit Super Bowl contender as the GML continues. “It’s all about getting that ACP,” said Bdogtitan11.
