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Drew Brees talks about return to broadcast booth, New Orleans Saints QBs<\/p>\n
Drew Brees reveals how he’s preparing for his NFL broadcast comeback and promotes blood donation with Abbott and Big Ten.<\/p>\n
Is it time for the NFL to take a page out of soccer’s playbook and sublet its stars?It would certainly be nice to see Myles Garrett with a team positioned to make a deep playoff run as he toils with Cleveland for a ninth season.In addition to Garrett, these five other stars would also be prime loan candidates in 2025.<\/p>\n
One can get some loopy ideas, especially when one subjects oneself to 14 hours of NFL<\/a> football on any given Sunday.<\/p>\n Take last weekend for instance.<\/p>\n Aside from those who live in South Florida, inside the Beltway or have a fantasy team anchored by De\u2019Von Achane, then there was little reason to get up early to watch the Week 11 matchup between the Miami Dolphins<\/a> and Washington Commanders<\/a> \u2026 unless you were curious to see the visuals from the league\u2019s first-ever regular-season contest from Madrid \u2013 which included Real Madrid\u2019s Bernab\u00e9u Stadium, perhaps European f\u00fatbol\u2019s preeminent palace.<\/p>\n Sunday afternoon<\/a> was also fairly light on compelling action. But there were some (more) memorable individual performances delivered in futility \u2013 think Bijan Robinson, Trey McBride and Myles Garrett, who had more than a hat trick’s worth of sacks by his lonesome. (Sense a soccer theme building yet? Bear with me.)<\/p>\n Sunday night\u2019s, uh, fixture between the Eagles<\/a> and Lions<\/a> featured two teams with Super Bowl aspirations \u2013 even if one could argue each might be a pivotal player away from World Cup, er, Lombardi glory. If only they could sublet another player.<\/p>\n Wait, what?!?!<\/p>\n Full transparency, I\u2019m no kickball enthusiast \u2013 unless \u201cTed Lasso\u201d or \u201cWelcome to Wrexham\u201d is about to resume. Soccer is replete with drawbacks \u2013 such as ties (I mean draws), offsides, fake injuries, hooligans, midseason Cups (like the moronic one the NBA continues clinging<\/a> to) and FIFA. But it does have some otherwise intriguing aspects to its tableau \u2013 think promotion\/relegation and spectacular venues such as Bernab\u00e9u.<\/p>\n And the loan system. Can you imagine that in the NFL?<\/p>\n Maybe you\u2019re thinking the league\u2019s transfer window \u2013 trade deadline<\/a>, I mean trade deadline \u2013 just expired earlier this month. That is true, of course, and a few big names, namely ex-New York Jets Quinnen Williams<\/a> and Sauce Gardner<\/a>, joined new sides. Yet, like in most leagues, most NFLers who are dealt in the middle of a season are often sub-star-caliber and literally are rentals, sent to a new team for what\u2019s probably a temporary hitch as their existing contract runs out \u2013 essentially what happened with new Eagles OLB Jaelan Phillips<\/a>, Seahawks WR Rashid Shaheed<\/a> and Jaguars WR Jakobi Meyers<\/a>.<\/p>\n But consider the possibilities \u2013 and additional interest \u2013 if the league implemented a loan window after the trade deadline? I\u2019m talking about the opportunity of a team allowing a superstar to play elsewhere, probably for the remainder of a given season (or maybe an additional year) in return for draft picks (maybe), prospects (maybe) or even salary cap space (which currently can\u2019t be exchanged) in addition to whatever would be saved when the gaining team picked up the player\u2019s paychecks for the term of the rental. This might also be an avenue to give younger, unproven guys developmental playing time elsewhere if they\u2019re buried on the depth chart of a good team.<\/p>\n And I get it, football is an inherently riskier sport than f\u00fatbol, and a club and its fan base would certainly suffer some degree of agita watching one of their key guys selling out while in harm\u2019s way and in another uniform, if only temporarily. But everyone has a price point. And there\u2019s also an argument to be made that a bond between a player and organization could be strengthened if he was liberated \u2013 if only for a finite period of time \u2013 to pursue a Lombardi Trophy elsewhere.<\/p>\n With this wild proposal in mind, here are six players I wish were eligible for loans in 2025 \u2013 for the greater good of their teams, but mostly for them personally.<\/p>\n He has to be the premier example here, right? In case you\u2019d forgotten, he requested a trade prior to Super Bowl 59<\/a> earlier this year, even penning a goodbye letter to Browns fans. A four-year, $160 million extension in March<\/a> unsurprisingly changed Garrett\u2019s mind as it made him the league\u2019s highest-paid non-quarterback at the time. Yet he\u2019s enduring a similar fate in 2025 as previous campaigns, playing extraordinary football in the dark, on pace for a single-season record 25\u00bd sacks \u2013 10 coming over the past three games (all losses), including four in Sunday\u2019s defeat to Baltimore.<\/p>\n Said Cleveland safety Grant Delpit: \u201cI mean he\u2019s the greatest of all time. He\u2019s the best I\u2019ve seen do it. I\u2019m glad that he\u2019s on my team.\u201d<\/p>\n But imagine if the No. 1 pick of the 2017 draft wasn\u2019t \u2013 at least not exclusively. What if the Browns could double deal, just a little bit, but ultimately keep the guy who could wind up being the greatest player in franchise history not named Jim Brown while also obtaining (needed) assets to upgrade Garrett\u2019s supporting cast \u2212 all while affording him the opportunity to chase the ring he claimed he wanted so badly earlier this year? And how fascinating would it be to learn what teams might be willing to bid in order to borrow a guy for a half-dozen games or so? Sure, the notion of a dude playing his entire career in one helmet is romantic … even if every team has three helmets now. It also basically never happens. That hasn\u2019t diluted Tom Brady\u2019s ties to New England or Peyton Manning\u2019s to Indianapolis or Jerry Rice\u2019s to San Francisco.<\/p>\n The NFL is predicated on competitive balance, and loans would theoretically only disrupt that temporarily \u2013 while potentially adding another highly riveting component to the later stages of the regular season, when circumstances are always going to force some clubs by the wayside, regardless of conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cFree Myles\u201d \u2026 even if we\u2019re merely furloughing him.<\/p>\n Myles Garrett’s last 6 seasons \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc8 12 sacks He is the first player in NFL history with 12+ sacks in six-straight seasons. pic.twitter.com\/MO760GvESP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) November 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Most career sacks in games lost – NFL History<\/p>\n Bruce Smith: 64.0 (131 losses) *Individual sacks official since 1982<\/p>\n \u2014 Jack Andrade (@RealJackAndrade) November 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n (And Cleveland needs to update the above social post.)<\/p>\n Playoff career: One win in two postseason appearances over his first eight seasons.<\/p>\n Ideal \u201cloan\u201d fit \u2013 Patriots: New England is tied for the league\u2019s best record (9-2), has \u2013 by far \u2013 the most unused cap space in the league ($52 million-plus, per OverTheCap<\/a>) and no dominant pass rusher on an eighth-ranked defense.<\/p>\n DE Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders<\/p>\n If Garrett is in a tier unto himself, Crosby is right below him. A talented, relentless, loyal soldier who\u2019s remarkably straightened out his life and blossomed into a leader with the franchise that drafted him \u2013 and he and the Raiders remain mutually dedicated after he signed his own three-year extension earlier this year<\/a> \u2013 Crosby nevertheless remains tethered to an organization that seems stuck in a perpetual rebuild. Hopefully he eventually plays for a Sin City winner, but it’d be nice if he could finally showcase his talents for one elsewhere.<\/p>\n Playoff career: Zero wins in one postseason appearance over his first six seasons.<\/p>\n Ideal \u201cloan\u201d fit \u2013 Lions: Detroit still hasn\u2019t found a certifiable wingman for fellow DE Aidan Hutchinson, who was routinely enveloped Sunday night by the Eagles\u2019 O-line. Borrowing Crosby would make opponents pay for double-teaming anyone on the edge.<\/p>\n OLB Brian Burns, New York Giants<\/p>\n He\u2019s in the midst of a career year, Burns\u2019 13 sacks trailing only Garrett (15) league-wide. But that spectacular effort won\u2019t last beyond 17 games with the flatlined G-Men, Burns no closer to his first-ever playoff trip.<\/p>\n Playoff career: No appearances over his first six seasons.<\/p>\n Ideal \u201cloan\u201d fit \u2013 Panthers: After he was traded last year, let\u2019s send Burns back to Charlotte, where he toiled for his first five seasons and already knows much of the building and DC Ejiro Evero. The Panthers are currently hovering just outside the projected NFC playoff field<\/a> and don\u2019t have a defender with more than three sacks. A brief get-together with their former flame could be hot stuff for both parties.<\/p>\n DT Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee Titans<\/p>\n The Titans once again have the league\u2019s worst record but have identified Simmons, a three-time Pro Bowler, as part of their future and opted not to trade him. But if they could loan him? He\u2019s not Aaron Donald, but who is? However Simmons is certainly on par with Williams, who fetched a first- and second-round pick plus more from Dallas, and can certainly crush a pocket that so many of the league\u2019s elite passers rely upon in January. Here\u2019s hoping Simmons lasts long enough to reach another postseason game in Nashville \u2013 but sure would be nice if he was guaranteed one under a different situation.<\/p>\n Playoff career: Two wins in three postseason appearances (none since 2021) over his first six seasons.<\/p>\n Ideal \u201cloan\u201d fit \u2013 49ers: Granted, Simmons isn\u2019t an off-ball linebacker or pass rusher who could fill in more seamlessly for Fred Warner or Nick Bosa, the Niners\u2019 injured defensive stalwarts. But Simmons could wreck shop from the inside for a unit that values D-line depth but had already been largely revamped by free agency before losing its two best players.<\/p>\n TE Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals<\/p>\n He\u2019s been more than living up to the four-year, $76 million contract<\/a> he signed earlier this year, albeit for a team that\u2019s taken a major step back in 2025. If he\u2019s not the league\u2019s best tight end at present, McBride is certainly the most productive, his 71 catches, 718 yards and seven TDs all tops at the position entering Week 12.<\/p>\n Playoff career: No appearances over his first three seasons.<\/p>\n Ideal \u201cloan\u201d fit \u2013 Packers: What a Band-Aid McBride would be for a Super Bowl hopeful forging ahead without injured Tucker Kraft.<\/p>\n RB Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s somewhat premature to suggest loaning a potential superstar, one who scored two more touchdowns in obscurity during Sunday\u2019s come-from-ahead loss to Carolina. But Robinson, now in his third season but eligible for his first mega-money extension in 2026, seems headed down the Saquon Barkley road with the ill-constructed Falcons, who are quickly squandering<\/a> the prime years of a player whose position almost certainly limits his professional longevity. And given what a real-time highlight reel the luminous Robinson is capable of being, he\u2019s the kind of high-wattage star and personality who deserves the opportunity to flourish on grander platforms.<\/p>\n Playoff career: No appearances over his first two seasons.<\/p>\n Ideal \u201cloan\u201d fit \u2013 AFC West: Can you imagine if the Chiefs, Broncos and Chargers got to fight over Robinson as a potential temp? Kansas City doesn\u2019t run the ball particularly well and would surely love to make another move to spark their expected playoff push; Denver just lost RB J.K. Dobbins to a foot injury<\/a> that will probably end his season; and the Bolts have been trying to get by without injured Omarion Hampton<\/a> and Najee Harris. But Robinson to K.C. might be especially \u2026 special? Seeing what he could do during a deep postseason run while leveraging his multi-dimensional ability with the game\u2019s most clutch quarterback would be something to behold.<\/p>\n All NFL news on and off the field.\u00a0Sign up<\/a>\u00a0for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfc8 16 sacks
\ud83c\udfc8 16 sacks
\ud83c\udfc8 14 sacks
\ud83c\udfc8 14 sacks
\ud83c\udfc8 13 sacks and counting<\/p>\n
Leslie O’Neal: 63.0 (108 losses)
Myles Garrett: 62.5 (75 losses)
Reggie White: 58.5 (88 losses)<\/p>\n