Aaron Brooks

Tyler Shough and Aaron Brooks operate in completely different eras—Shough's got the modern playbook and rules tilted his way, while Brooks had to improvise with hand grenades. Brooks was a dual-threat magician who beat the defending Super Bowl champion Rams in his first start and engineered New Orleans' first playoff win, making him a franchise cornerstone despite inconsistency. Shough has tools Brooks never dreamed of, but Brooks had something Shough's still hunting: clutch moments that defined a franchise.

No, Aaron Brooks isn't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, though he's enshrined in the Saints Hall of Fame. His 19,156 passing yards rank third in franchise history and his 120 touchdowns rank second, but his career was too brief and uneven for Canton consideration. He was brilliant in flashes—especially 2002 when he threw 27 TDs, second in the NFL—but never sustained excellence across a full season.

The search results don't contain current information about Aaron Brooks' 2026 activities, so I can't provide details about what he's doing now in broadcasting, business, or charity work.

Brooks would thrive in today's NFL. Modern rules protecting quarterbacks would've eliminated the brutal hits that derailed his consistency, while his dual-threat ability—he rushed for 13 touchdowns with the Saints—would be weaponized like Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen. His improvisation skills and scrambling instincts were ahead of their time; give him today's passing-friendly ecosystem and he'd likely sustain the excellence he showed sporadically in 2002-2003.

Brees obliterated Brooks in every statistical category, but that's unfair—they played different roles. Brees was a generational talent who built a dynasty; Brooks was a gunslinger who gave Saints fans their first playoff victory before the window closed. Brees had 13 seasons in New Orleans; Brooks had maybe three truly elite ones. Different eras, different expectations.