The Saints tried to get Drew Brees out of retirement. • FootballR

Saints New Orleans tried to hold a “Hail Mary” this Christmas, but it went unanswered.

In a desperate bid to fill a quarterback position in Monday’s game against the Miami Dolphins, the Saints sought to lure franchise icon Drew Bryce out of retirement.

Bryce spoke to coach Sean Payton this week while vacationing with his family in Hawaii and was seriously considering a comeback, so he threw in some passes to test his arm. In the end, however, he turned down the offer, among other things because he wasn’t sure if he’d be back in business again anytime soon. Bryce also didn’t want to come back unless he was guaranteed a Monday night game.

The 42-year-old quit last March after throwing passes for 80,358 yards in 20 NFL seasons. He now works as an analyst at NBC.

Brees wasn’t the only player who recently retired from speaking to the Saints this week. New Orleans also contacted Philip Rivers, who now coaches high school football in Alabama, and longtime reserve Josh McCown, whose last game was in 2019.

The Saints were looking for a midfielder after placing both Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian on their COVID-19 roster Thursday. Hill and Simian shared time with QB after James Winston was injured at the end of the season in Week 8. According to reports, rookie Ian Book will start the game on Monday and Blake Portels, who signed with New Orleans on Friday, will serve as backup.

Photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire